ALMOST 20,000 residents were forced to evacuate after a ferocious new wildfire broke out in Los Angeles County.
The Hughes Fire erupted from 500 acres to more than 5,000 in just two hours after it sparked just before 11 am on Wednesday near Castaic Lake, California.
Flames tore across dry hillsides and enormous plumes of smoke billowed into the air, prompting a warning of "immediate threat to life".
Around 19,000 people had been ordered to evacuate by 2:30pm, officials told KTLA, with thousands more affected by evacuation warnings.
The blaze is devastating an area already reeling from wildfires, with much of Southern California remaining under a red flag warning.
This blaze is around 40 miles from the catastrophic Eaton and Palisades fires that continue to burn for a third week.
Crews battled the blaze from the ground and the skies, desperate to control the flames ripping through ground the size of 23 football pitches every minute.
Read more: hhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/news/32961056/los-angeles-new-hughes-fire/
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