WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- The Los Angeles Fire Department issued Wednesday mandatory evacuation order for residents of the northern town of Castaic amid a new outbreak of the wildfire in the county.
The CNN reported that fire crews are battling a swiftly growing blaze dubbed the Hughes Fire burning near the town of Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.
It added that the LA County Fire Department has ordered residents in the vicinity of Castaic Lake to evacuate immediately.
As of 12:30 p.m., about 90 minutes after it started, the fire had burned more than 3,400 acres, according to Cal Fire.
The fire began at 10:53 a.m. and burned 500 acres in one hour, Cal Fire said. That's equivalent to a spread rate of about a football field burned every 10 seconds.
Images showed a large plume of smoke moving west toward Interstate 5 as flames burned near Castaic Lake in the grassy hills just north of Santa Clarita.
Meanwhile in Southern California, strong offshore Santa Ana winds prompted the highest category of red flag warnings for Tuesday.
And the Storm Prediction Center has issued an "extremely critical" fire weather outlook for parts of LA and Ventura Counties, as well as parts of San Diego County. (end) rsr.ibi