The blaze was reported just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the area of Lake Hughes Road near the 5 Freeway, according to Cal Fire.

The Hughes Fire has now burned 8,096 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since igniting late Wednesday morning near Castaic Lake, according to Cal Fire. More than 24,00 people have been ordered to evacuate due to the Hughes Fire. Another 30,000 people are in evacuation warning zones.

Original: A brush fire erupted in Castaic, sending smoke over the Santa Clarita Valley. Around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, first responders received reports of a brush fire on Lake Hughes Road north of Castaic Lake, according to officials. The fire is currently at 50+ acres. Smoke from the fire is visible throughout Santa Clarita.

The Hughes Fire was first reported shortly after 10:30 a.m. along Lake Hughes Road, near Castaic Lake and the 5 Freeway, according to Cal Fire.

The Hughes fire seen from Magic Mountain has started north of Castaic and has exploded to more than 5,000 acres in under two hours on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Castaic, California. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS) (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Santa Clarita, the area affected by the Hughes Fire, is a densely populated community predominantly comprising workers and middle-class families.

The fire threat remains critical in Southern California, where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.

The Hughes Fire in Castaic area has burned more than 9,400 acres in just hours. While Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone called it a "difficult fire," he said that crews are "getting the upper hand on containing the blaze."

A fast-moving brush fire rapidly exploded across thousands of acres of thick vegetation near Castaic Lake, prompting mandatory evacuations in the lake area and into the heart of Castaic, but while high winds push the flames,

B Holly Yan, Brandon Miller, Amanda Musa, Emma Tucker and Josh Campbell, CNN (CNN) — Exhausted firefighters battling deadly infernos for weeks are now grappling with two new wildfires torching Southern California.

An explosive new wildfire erupted north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and setting nerves jangling in an area still reeling from two deadly blazes.