CNN — 

Fire crews are battling a swiftly growing blaze dubbed the Hughes Fire burning near the town of Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County. The fire grew to more than 5,000 acres in two hours, and residents in the immediate vicinity of Castaic Lake are under mandatory evacuations, according to the LA County Fire Department.

At the rate it’s going, the blaze is burning a football field-sized area every 2 to 3 seconds. Winds in the area are currently around 20 mph and pushing flames toward the southwest, with wind gusts up to 30-40 mph at some spots, according to the National Weather Service.

As of 2 p.m., the fire was 0% contained, Cal Fire said.

Smoke is visible as far south as the city of Oxnard in Ventura County, city officials said on social media Wednesday. Oxnard is about 50 miles southwest of Castaic.

Images showed a large cloud of smoke moving west toward Interstate 5 as flames burned near Castaic Lake in the grassy hills just north of Santa Clarita.

The fire will likely spread towards the south and west, away from where it started, according to data and forecast models from thermal intelligence company Orora Technologies. Castaic, home to approximately 19,000 people, is in considerable danger of being affected by spreading flames, the models show.

Meanwhile, a county jail in Castaic has been partially evacuated, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The jail is just south of the fire area and can hold as many as 4,295 inmates.

Approximately 470 inmates have been evacuated, a sheriff’s department spokesperson told CNN, but it was unclear why they were being moved or where they were being taken.

Satellite data used by Orora Technologies first detected a hotspot just north of Castaic Lake at 10:45 a.m. Officials with Cal Fire said they first detected a fire at 10:53 a.m.

The area where the fire started and is currently burning is largely shrub and grassland, with some limited forested areas, additional data from Orora Technologies shows.

Thick brush in the area is serving as fuel for the rapid fire spread, according to Angeles National Forest spokesperson Dana Dierkes.

“We’re in fairly steep conditions” and it’s “incredibly dry,” Dierkes told CNN affiliate KCAL on Wednesday. “There are homes in the general vicinity and in the immediate area.”

Fire officials previously told KCAL at least 10 firefighting aircraft had been requested for the aerial attack.

The entirety of Angeles National Forest is closed to the general public through January 24, according to the US Forest Service.

This is a developing story and will be updated.