New wildfire breaks out north of Los Angeles, forces evacuations

By David Swanson and Daniel Trotta
Reuters
January 23, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

CASTAIC, California – A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday rapidly spread to more than 9,400 acres, fueled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people. The Hughes fire, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles, sent huge flames and plumes of smoke over a hilly area and further taxed firefighters who have managed to bring two major fires in the metropolitan area largely under control. In just a few hours on Wednesday, the new fire grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire. The affected area was not as populated as those blazes, said a spokesperson for the firefighters, Matthew Van Hagen. “It’s more sparsely populated. However, we are dealing with high winds, which we also saw with the other fires, along with … a very receptive fuel bed and steep topography again,” he said.

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