CASTAIC, Jan 23 (AFP): An explosive new wildfire erupted north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and setting nerves jangling in an area still reeling from two deadly blazes.
Ferocious flames devoured hillsides near Castaic Lake, spreading rapidly to cover more than 9,400 acres (3,800 hectares) in just a few hours.
The fire was fanned by strong, dry Santa Ana winds racing through the area, pushing a vast pall of smoke and embers ahead of the firefront.
Evacuations were ordered for 31,000 people around the lake, which sits 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, and close to the city of Santa Clarita.
"I'm just praying that our house doesn't burn down," one man told broadcaster KTLA as he packed his car.
The Hughes Fire came as the greater Los Angeles area was on edge after two enormous fires tore through America's second largest metropolis, killing more than two dozen people and wreaking billions of dollars of devastation.
As California faces a massive rebuild, President Donald Trump repeated his false claim that the state was improperly diverting water away from the site of the emergency, threatening to withhold federal funds as a result.
"I don't think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into their system" from the north of the state, Trump said in an interview on Fox News aired Wednesday evening.
Los Angeles's water supplies are mainly fed via aqueducts and canals originating from entirely separate river basins further east.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic was under an evacuation order, and about 500 inmates had been moved to a neighboring facility.
