(NewsNation) – More than 50,000 people are under evacuation warnings because of another fire that broke out late Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County.
The Hughes fire started late Wednesday morning and and quickly engulfed 10,176 acres, according to CAL FIRE. It charred miles of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area.
The extremely strong winds were fueling the flames. However, they have since died down — something firefighters are using to their advantage. Parts of Interstate 5 near the Hughes Fire that had been closed reopened Wednesday evening.
“It’s really terrible to see it happening,” Chris Dittes, a member of the Castaic Town Council, said. “But this instance here is not one of tragedy. There’s no homes that have been burned as far as I know. It’s just been brush that has actually long needed to burn.”
Still, “any fire, of course, is scary,” Dittes added.
Evacuation warnings were also in effect but later lifted for parts of the Brentwood and Bel Air neighborhoods for the Sepulveda Fire, which started overnight. Firefighters were able to stop forward progress on Sepulveda around 2 a.m. Thursday, NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reported. That blaze torched around 40 acres.
The Los Angeles area had already been devastated by wildfires that began earlier this month and have continued burning.
Of these, the Palisades Fire is the largest, burning 23,448 acres. It is 70% contained, per CAL FIRE.
The second-largest, the Eaton Fire, is 14,021 acres and 95% contained. At least 28 people have died, and more than 14,000 structures destroyed, between both the Palisades and Eaton Fires.
Meanwhile, the Clay Fire in Riverside County has burned 39 acres and reached 65% containment.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said residents and officials have been on edge over the last 16 days because of the numerous figures started in January.
However, Marrone noted that the situation for the Hughes fire is different.
“In addition to the state resources that were pre-deployed, we had two strike teams in the Santa Clarita area,” he told reporters. “We were able to amass a lot of fire resources early on to change what this fire looks like.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
