Tens of thousands of California residents have been evacuated as yet another wildfire rages near blaze-hit Los Angeles.
Firefighters said the Hughes Fire has already decimated more than 41 square kilometres of forest and bushland close to Lake Castaic, which is around 45 minutes away from Los Angeles.
The fast-moving blaze has prompted evacuation orders or warnings for around 50,000 people as emergency teams rush to contain the flames.
News of the latest outbreak came as the Los Angeles Fire Department continued to tackle ongoing blazes in Eaton and Palisades for a third week — although they are largely contained.
Luckily, favourable wind conditions allowed fire teams to make considerable progress with the latest fire, of which 14% had already been contained.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone confirmed: “The situation that we’re in today is very different from the situation we were in 16 days ago.”
While there are no reports of homes being destroyed by the Hughes Fire, red flag warnings will remain until at least Friday morning as more than 4,000 firefighters work to contain the blaze.
Parts of the interstate highway have been reportedly closed off to prioritize access for emergency crews.
It’s been a challenging start to 2025 for many California residents after weeks of deadly fires swept across vast swathes of residential areas.
More than 14,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed after flames erupted in Palisades and Eaton on January 7, with a number of Hollywood A-listers also impacted.
At least 28 people were killed in the fires as fast wind whipped up the deadly flames, and investigators are still looking into 22 active missing persons cases in the surrounding areas.
While investigators are yet to officially determine the cause of the devastating fires, many experts have stated that wildfire conditions have been amplified due to climate change.
Climate scientists at UCLA said that vegetation surrounding Los Angeles was 25% because of climate change, and without such conditions, the fire may have been “less intense.”
Since the 1970s, the amount of area burned in California has increased fivefold, signalling a grim prospect for the coming years.
The fires came amid the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, which came with a number of sweeping executive orders that proved climate change wasn’t a priority for the Republican administration.
On his first day in office, Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement yet again, which was designed to keep global warming below deadly levels.
He also blocked new offshore wind proposals, reversed a mandate on electric vehicles, and rescinded a directive aimed at supporting environmental justice for communities impacted by pollution.
On Wednesday, Trump also threatened to withhold federal disaster aid from California until the state changed its water strategy.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” he said, falsely blaming California’s fish conservation efforts for the lack of water.
