A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles in the US state of California on Wednesday quickly spread to more than 38 square kilometers and is fueled by strong winds as it passes through dry scrubland, prompting an evacuation order for more than 31,000 people, Reuters reports, UNN writes.
Details
The Hughes Fire, about 80 kilometers north of Los Angeles, has further complicated the work of firefighters in the region, who have managed to bring two large fires under control near the state's main city.
In a few hours on Wednesday, the new fire grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire, one of two horrific fires that have devastated the Los Angeles area.
Officials warned people in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County that they could face an "immediate threat to life," while much of Southern California remained under a "red flag" for extreme fire danger due to strong dry winds.
About 31,000 people are under a mandatory evacuation order, and another 23,000 people are receiving evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a press conference.
The Angeles National Forest has announced that its entire 2800 square kilometer park in the San Gabriel Mountains is closed to visitors.
About 1,100 firefighters have been deployed around Southern California in anticipation of the rapidly spreading fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. More than 4,000 firefighters were working on the Hughes Fire, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
Southern California hasn't seen significant rain in nine months, contributing to dangerous conditions, but light rain was forecast from Saturday to Monday, possibly bringing much-needed relief to firefighters.
Helicopters and airplanes were used to extinguish the fire.
Interstate 5, a major north-south highway in the western United States, was temporarily closed near a mountain pass known as Grapevine due to poor visibility from smoke, the California Highway Patrol said. But firefighters managed to extinguish enough of the fire to reopen the highway, Marrone said.
Addendum
As a new fire began to rage, the two deadly fires that have been ravaging Los Angeles since January 7 were brought under control, the California Fire Department reported.
The Eaton Fire, which covered 57 square kilometers east of Los Angeles, was 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which covered 95 square kilometers in western Los Angeles, was 68% contained.
Since the two fires broke out on January 7, they have burned an area almost the size of Washington, D.C., claiming 28 lives and damaging or destroying nearly 16,000 buildings, according to Cal Fire. According to Los Angeles County officials, at one point 180,000 people were under evacuation orders.
AccuWeather predicts damages and economic losses of more than $250 billion.
Over the past two weeks, a series of small wildfires in Southern California have also been extinguished or largely brought under control.
