Thousands flee as new wildfire burns in southern California
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More than 30,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes north of Los Angeles after a new wildfire broke out in California. The latest blaze - dubbed the Hughes Fire - started late on Wednesday morning near Lake Castaic, around 40 miles from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated parts of LA earlier this month.
Within hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said the blaze had burned across 9,400 acres. They added the fire is at zero percent containment. Los Angeles County officials said in a news conference that more than 31,000 people - greater than the entire population of Castaic - were told to leave over warnings of "immediate threat to life".
Another 25,000 people are in zones facing evacuation warnings. Planes were seen making runs over the mountains to drop water and fire suppressants. Be the first to get Breaking News. Install the Sky News app for free. 'Driving into hell'. Helicopters have also reportedly scooped water out of the lake to drop on the fire to stop it from approaching Interstate 5, where a 30-mile stretch of the Mexico-to-Canada highway had already been closed.
Speaking to NBC4, a local affiliate of Sky's US partner network NBC News, J.C. Chancellor said scenes from the nearby 5 Freeway "looked like you were driving into hell". "There was red fire coming up from below," she told the broadcaster. "It was pretty terrifying... It looks like a smoke bomb went off.".
