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CASTAIC, California, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Powerful winds and bone-dry conditions could pose a challenge to firefighters battling new wildfires in southern California on Thursday, including a blaze that swelled over the past day and forced tens of thousands of evacuations north of Los Angeles.
The Hughes fire, about 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles, grew to 10,176 acres (4,118 hectares) since igniting on Wednesday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said on its website.
The 4,000 firefighters battling the blaze have achieved 14% containment, a measure of the percentage of a fire’s perimeter brought under control, Cal Fire added.
Crews fighting the Hughes Fire and two other massive Los Angeles blazes – Palisades and Eaton – were expected to be tested by strong Santa Ana winds of up to 50 mph (80 kph) with gusts reaching 65 mph and humidity levels dropping below 10% into Friday, forecasters said.
“Dangerous fire weather conditions will persist through Friday as fuels remain extremely dry and ready to burn, with Thursday the period of greatest concern,” the National Weather Service said in an advisory. “Any fire that starts can grow fast and out of control.”
About 31,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday as the fire sent huge flames and plumes of smoke over a hilly terrain in the Castaic Lake area near Santa Clarita.
The Eaton and Palisades fires, which leveled entire neighborhoods on the eastern and western flanks of Los Angeles, have killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures over the past two weeks.
Helicopters battling the Hughes Fire scooped water out of a lake to drop on the fire while airplanes dropped fire retardant on the hills, video on KTLA television showed. Flames spread to the water’s edge.
As of Thursday morning, the Eaton Fire that scorched about 14,000 acres (5,670 hectares) east of Los Angeles was 95% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed about 23,450 acres (9,490 hectares) on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 70% contained, Cal Fire said.
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