Firefighters made progress on the more than 10,000-acre Hughes Fire Friday, which sent thousands fleeing after sparking near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic. Some mandatory evacuation orders have been downgraded to warnings while containment of the wildfire rose over Thursday.

The Hughes Fire in Castaic area has burned more than 9,400 acres in just hours. While Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone called it a "difficult fire," he said that crews are "getting the upper hand on containing the blaze.

The Hughes Fire forced evacuations in Santa Clarita, California. At least 31,000 residents were ordered to evacuate as the blaze grew to over 10,000 acres on Wednesday,2. Footage captured by Liana Herrera shows a cloud of smoke rising from the flames.

A fresh California wildfire ignited north of Los Angeles Wednesday during "critical" fire weather and triggered evacuations as it quickly exploded in size across two counties on Wednesday — and forecasters warned conditions would worsen overnight.

Californians forced to evacuate as fast-moving Hughes blaze rips through California - Hughes fire has scorched more than 10,000 acres near the Castaic Lake, north of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles, as

The Laguna fire, one of the latest major blazes to strike Southern California, prompted new evacuation warnings in Ventura County on Thursday. Newsweek reached out to the Ventura County Fire Department for comment on Thursday.

The Hughes Fire has spread over 8,096 acres after starting just before lunchtime in Los Angeles County's Castaic Lake area on Wednesday.

A new wildfire was reported today at 11:45 p.m. in Los Angeles County. The wildfire has been burning on private land. At this time, the containment status is unknown and the cause of the fire remains undetermined.