Flames race up the hill as the plume of smoke from the Hughes Fire fills the sky in Castaic, a northwestern neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo: APU GOMES / AFP
- Hughes Fire forces evacuations in Castaic Lake area
- Eaton Fire 91 percent contained, Palisades Fire 68 percent contained
- AccuWeather estimates $250 billion (US) in damage and losses
A rapidly growing wildfire has broken out some 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles, burning 3407 acres (5.3 square km) while two major fires burning in the metropolitan area for more than two weeks were getting under control, fire officials said.
The Hughes Fire in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County forced evacuations with warnings of "immediate threat to life," while much of Southern California remained under a red flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong, dry winds.
The number of people under evacuation orders was not specified. About 18,600 people live in the community of Castaic.
A sheriff watches flames race up the hill. Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP
Firefighters from Angeles National Forest were responding, the US Forest Service said, announcing that the entire 700,000-acre (2,800-sq-km) park in the San Gabriel Mountains was closed to visitors.
As the new fire raged, the two deadly fires that have ravaged Los Angeles came under greater control, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
The Eaton Fire that scorched 14,021 acres (57 sq km) east of Los Angeles was 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed 23,448 acres (95 sq km) on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 68 percent contained.
Containment measures the percentage of a fire's perimeter that firefighters have under control.
The fire was being fanned by strong, dry Santa Ana winds. Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP
Since the two fires broke out on 7 January they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.
At one point 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.
Private forecaster AccuWeather projects damage and economic losses at more than $250 billion.
- Reuters
