cnn
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Firefighters are battling a rapidly growing fire, known as the Hughes Fire, burning near the town of Castaic, a suburb in the hills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County. The fire spread to more than 5,000 acres in two hours and residents in the vicinity of Castaic Lake are under mandatory evacuation, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
At the rate it is advancing, the fire is burning an area the size of a football field every 2 to 3 seconds. Winds in the area are currently around 32 km/h and pushing the flames toward the southwest, with wind gusts of up to 48-64 km/h in some spots, according to the National Weather Service.
The smoke is visible as far as the city of Oxnard, in Ventura County, according to municipal officials reported this Wednesday on social networks. Oxnard is about 80 miles southwest of Castaic.
Images showed a large plume of smoke moving west toward Interstate 5 as flames burned near Castaic Lake in the grassy hills north of Santa Clarita.
The area’s thick brush is serving as fuel for the fire’s rapid spread, according to Angeles National Forest spokeswoman Dana Dierkes.
“We’re in pretty steep conditions” and it’s “incredibly dry,” Dierkes told CNN affiliate KCAL on Wednesday. “There are houses in the surrounding area and in the immediate area.”
Firefighters previously told KCAL that at least 10 firefighting aircraft had been requested for the airstrike.
The entire Angeles National Forest will be closed to the general public until Jan. 24, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
