By David Swanson and Daniel Trotta

CASTAIC, Calif. (Reuters) – A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday quickly spread to more than 8,000 hectares (32 square km), fueled by high winds and dry brush, which forcing a mandatory evacuation order for more than 19,000 people.

The Hughes fire about 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles further taxed firefighters in the region who were able to bring two major fires burning in the metropolitan area under control.

In just a few hours on Wednesday the new fire grew to more than half the size of Eaton (NYSE:) Fire, one of two major fires that devastated the Los Angeles area.

Officials warned people in the Castaic Lake area of ​​Los Angeles County that they faced “immediate threat to life,” while much of Southern California remained under a red flag. warning for severe fire danger due to strong, dry winds.

About 19,000 people, a number roughly equivalent to the entire population of the community of Castaic, are under mandatory evacuation orders, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Another 16,000 are under evacuation warnings.

Los Angeles County, the state of California and the US Forest Service said their firefighters responded. The Angeles National Forest said the entire 700,000-acre (2,800-sq-km) park in the San Gabriel Mountains was closed to visitors.

As a result of the red flag warning, about 1,100 firefighters have been deployed around Southern California in anticipation of fast-moving fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

Southern California hasn’t had much rain in nine months, contributing to dangerous conditions, but some rain is forecast from Saturday into Monday, potentially giving firefighters much-needed relief.

Helicopters fetched water from a lake to drop on the fire while fixed-wing aircraft dropped fire retardant on the hillsides, video on KTLA television showed. The fire spread to the edge of the water.

Interstate 5, the major north-south highway in the western United States, was closed at mountain passes known as Grapevine because of poor visibility from the smoke, the California Highway Patrol said.

While the new fire is burning, the two deadly fires that destroyed Los Angeles are under control, Cal Fire said.

The Eaton Fire that burned 14,021 acres (57 square km) east of Los Angeles is 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which consumed 23,448 acres (95 square km) west of Los Angeles, stands at 68% contained. .

Containment measures the percentage of the perimeter of the fire that firefighters control.

Since the two fires broke out on January 7, they have burned an area roughly the size of Washington, DC, killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal said. Fire. At one point, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.

Private forecaster AccuWeather projects damage and economic losses of more than $250 billion.

A series of small wildfires have been extinguished or brought under control in much of Southern California over the past two weeks.