Thousands told to evacuate after two new blazes start in Los Angeles County

The Hughes Fire was burning out of control near Castaic, north of Los Angeles.

Evacuation orders and warnings were issued to more than 31,000 people in the vicinity of two new wildfires north of Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Hughes fire near Castaic Lake in northern Los Angeles County began Wednesday morning and now covers more than 10,000 acres or 15 square miles. It was only 10% contained at 1 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), according to Cal Fire.

Firefighters are tackling a new brush fire — dubbed the Sepulveda Fire — near Interstate 405 and Sepulveda Blvd in Los Angeles. The fire sparked hours after fire crews started to achieve some containment on the Hughes Fire, which spread rapidly Wednesday afternoon in a Los Angeles County suburb.

An evacuation warning for the brush fire was issued for some residents in Sherman Oaks around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday — the warning has since been lifted, but smoke could be seen in the area near locations including campuses for UCLA and for Mount Saint Mary’s University-Los Angeles. Also nearby are the Getty Center, whose spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times it implemented fire protection protocols, as well as pricey real estate valued in the tens of millions of dollars, according to local listings.

The Hughes Fire ignited weeks after two nearby blazes left at least 27 people dead and engulfed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area earlier this month, in what the city's fire chief has called one of the worst disasters in the history of Los Angeles.Wednesday's winds were not as strong as those that fueled the Eaton and Palisades fires on Jan. 7, when authorities were unable to use aircraft to drop flame retardant, Marrone said.

On Wednesday, firefighters were able to drop tens of thousands of gallons of retardant to help halt the spread of the fire, he said.

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California called for the immediate evacuation of 4,700 jail inmates in four facilities around the lake that are under a warning to flee the area.A spokesperson for the sheriff's department, which operates the jails, said that 476 people in one of the facilities were being moved to another jail.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. The fire broke out after a return of winds and dry conditions created a critical fire risk. The area remained under red flag warnings through 10 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service said, adding that wind gusts of up to 65 mph could be expected in the mountains.

Experts have pointed to the link between climate change and the conditions that make fires like those that have roared across Los Angeles in recent weeks more likely.