A vehicle rides past a hillside engulfed in flames caused by the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A firefighter battles the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
LOS ANGELES, CA — As a series of new blazes forced people to flee in San Diego County this week, a massive wildfire swept through the mountains just north of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Within two hours, the Hughes Fire in Los Angeles County charred more than 12 square miles of trees and brush, sending up plumes of dark smoke near Lake Castaic Wednesday. By 6 p.m., 31,000 people were under evacuation orders, while another 23,000 people were warned to prepare to leave at a moment's notice.
Authorities were forced to embark on the dramatic evacuation of hundreds of jail inmates, while thousands more were also forced to shelter in places as the flames approached.
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Firefighting crews from the around the state were, once again, stretched thin battling multiple blazes, including a new fire in San Diego County. The Center Fire forced evacuations, threatened homes and injured at least one person Wednesday morning in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego.
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A firefighter sets out fire hoses to fight the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)A home owner sprays water from the top of the roof in Castaic, Calif., as a large plume of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rises from Castaic Lake Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)Fighter fighters monitor flames caused by the Hughes Fire along Castaic Lake in Castaic, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)A firefighter works to control the spread of the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Andrew Aguilar spray water from the top of the roof at his brother's home Castaic, Calif., as a large plume of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rises from Castaic Lake Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)Vehicles drive along Interstate 15 as the Lilac Fire burns along a hillside in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Firefighters stand along a ridge as they battle the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Firefighter Joshua Cari sprays water while battling the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Firefighters battle the Lilac Fire along Interstate 15 near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)A woman search inside a destroyed home by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)San Diego firefighters knock down a small brush along a hillside over the Mission Valley Shopping Mall in San Diego on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)San Diego firefighters knock down a small brush along a hillside over the Mission Valley Shopping Mall in San Diego on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)A large plume of smoke rises from Castaic Lake seen behind a neighborhood in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)A large plume of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rises from Castaic Lake as seen from a neighborhood of Santa Clarita, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)A large plume of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rises from Castaic Lake as seen from a neighborhood of Santa Clarita, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)Smoke fills the sky during a wildfire on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Castaic, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Plumes of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rise over Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Plumes of smoke caused by the Hughes Fire rise over Lake Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Plumes of smoke rise as the Hughes Fire burns in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Flames caused by the Hughes Fire engulf mountain brush in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)A fire truck drives past flames caused by the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
