A new fire in southern California has exploded from 500 acres to more than 9,000 in just a few hours, prompting new evacuation orders for an area already reeling from blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes.

The Hughes Fire grew rapidly near Castaic Lake, about 45 miles northwest of the city of Los Angeles, after it broke out at around 10.53am PST on Wednesday.

No homes or businesses have been damaged, but about 31,000 residents have been forced to flee, officials said, with thousands more under evacuation warnings.

Crews on the ground and in the sky attacked the flames, which were spreading over 23 football fields every minute, according to ABC 7. It is 0 per cent contained.

“That one’s gonna go nuclear. It’s big,” wildfire expert Jacob Weigler told The New York Post.

The new fire is burning just north of the two massive blazes that destroyed multiple neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area earlier this month.

Key Points

• Hughes fire spreads to 9,400 acres
• Hughes fire: Over 50,000 under evacuation orders
• Mapped: The scale of Hughes Fire and affected communities near Santa Clarita

4,000 firefighters at work to contain Hughes Fire

05:15 , Stuti Mishra

The chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said that 4,000 firefighters had been assigned to work on containing the Hughes Fire, which grew by thousands of acres in just a few hours.

Fire cause under investigation as multiple blaze continue to burn in Los Angeles

05:00 , Stuti Mishra

The cause of the Hughes Fire remains under investigation, but forecasters have warned of more critical fire weather affecting the region through Thursday.

The Hughes Fire was not the first to start on Wednesday. The seven-acre Bernardo Fire in San Diego County also forced evacuations. It is now 25 per cent contained, according to CBS 8.

The new fires come as progress continues to be made to contain the deadly and devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires that tore through parts of Los Angeles last week. The Eaton Fire is now 91 per cent contained, and the Palisades is nearly 70 per cent contained.

State resources deployed to assist in federal response, says governor

04:45 , Stuti Mishra

Governor Gavin Newsom said that state resources had been deployed to assist in the federal response to the rapidly expanding Hughes fire.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide the federal government with whatever it needs to extinguish this fire,” he wrote in a post on social media.

Full story: Hughes fire in Los Angeles prompts mandatory evacuations

04:30 , Stuti Mishra

A new fire in Southern California has exploded from 500 acres to more than 9,000 in just a few hours, prompting new evacuation orders for an area already reeling from blazes that have raged and destroyed thousands of homes.

Read more:

Hughes fire in Los Angeles prompts mandatory evacuations

Fire department confident of ‘robust’ response

04:10 , Stuti Mishra

Fire officials said a rapid ground and air assault was giving them the upper hand with Hughes fire.There were no reported homes or other structures burned.

Though the region was under a red flag warning, winds were not as fast as they had been when those fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.

“The situation that we’re in today is very different from the situation we were in 16 days ago,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday evening.

“This fire had a robust response today, and as you can see behind us, the responders are doing great work to try to contain this fire,” Joe Tyler, director of Cal Fire, said. “Certainly, we are not out of the woods yet.”

Mapped: The scale of Hughes Fire and affected communities near Santa Clarita

03:50 , Stuti Mishra

A map shows the Hughes Fire and affected communities near Santa Clarita, California. (Cal Fire)

Hughes fire: Over 50,000 under evacuation orders

03:47 , Stuti Mishra

More than 50,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles.

The blaze, which started just days after wildfires scorched large parts of LA, has shut down schools and key highways. Parts of Interstate 5 that had been closed were reopened later in the evening.

More than 31,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and another 23,000 are under evacuation warnings, LA County sheriff Robert Luna said.

Hughes fire spreads to 9,400 acres

03:26 , Stuti Mishra

A new fast-moving wildfire has erupted in Los Angeles County, a region already reeling from blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes.

The Hughes fire ignited about 45 miles northwest of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, near Castaic Lake, prompting tens of thousands to evacuate.

Here’s the latest:

• The fire has rapidly expanded to approximately 9,400 acres with 0 per cent containment.
• The blaze has prompted mandatory evacuation orders for about 31,000 residents, with an additional 23,000 under evacuation warnings.
• No fatalities or structural damages have been reported so far.