A new fire exploded Wednesday north of Castaic, charring more than 10, acres and forcing thousands to flee their homes amid a month of extreme fire conditions that have plagued Southern California. The Hughes fire started off Lake Hughes Road just before 11 a. More than 31, people were ordered to evacuate, and warnings were issued to 23, others. The fire was initially reported at 50 acres but grew to 5, acres in the first two hours, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone at an evening news conference. A red flag warning will remain in place in areas of L. Friday, as moderate Santa Ana winds sweep through the region and continue to challenge firefighting efforts, according to the National Weather Service.
Amid the rapid spread of the fire, a stretch of Interstate 5 was closed for several hours, snarling traffic. It reopened in both directions around 6 p. A smoke advisory was also issued for a wide swath of northwestern L. More than 4, firefighting personnel are assigned to the incident, and so far there have been no reports of structures damaged, Marrone said. Read more: L.
Moments after the Hughes fire exploded, L. County Deputy Dist. Jonathan Hatami said he raced out of the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster and drove back to Santa Clarita, where hundreds of kids were being evacuated from West Creek Academy as the sky overhead darkened with smoke. You had younger kids You could see the smoke from the school. Everybody is kind of on edge," said Hatami, whose children are 8 and The veteran prosecutor, whose wife is a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who had been dispatched to help with evacuations, said his entire family was experiencing "fire fatigue" after more than two weeks spent waiting for wind-driven flames to threaten their home.
I love California. I love Los Angeles, but this is definitely stressful," he said. The fire was burning about five miles north of the county's Castaic jail complex, forcing deputies to move inmates from the tent-like barracks at Pitchess Detention Center to the concrete North County Correction Facility.
