Hughes Fire, latest horrific wildfire to explode in LA area, forces more than 30K to evacuate, torches over 10K acres after ‘nuclear’ prediction

A terrifying fast-moving new wildfire burning out of control north of Los Angeles quickly torched nearly 10,000 acres Wednesday, with more than 30,000 people ordered to evacuate just weeks after dangerous winds caused deadly infernos to erupt across Southern California.

The blaze, called the Hughes Fire, broke out before 11 a.m. just north of the town of Castaic — about 40 miles from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires — as a 50-acre fire and exploded to about 10,176 acres by evening, according to Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.

About 31,000 people were ordered to evacuate and another 23,000 people are in areas where evacuation warnings were issued, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department.