A fast-moving brush fire raced across thousands of acres of thick vegetation near Castaic Lake Wednesday, forcing mandatory evacuations in the lake area and into the heart of Castaic, with evacuation warnings issued for a wide area stretching from Santa Clarita west past the Ventura County line.

Coverage of when the Hughes fire exploded north of Castaic, the areas under evacuation orders and an extended red flag warning.

A fire north of a jail complex in Castaic has triggered evacuations in L.A. County, even as Southern California hopes for some rain to help with firefighting efforts.

The Hughes Fire near Castaic, north of Los Angeles, was 24% contained on Thursday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze was reported just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the area of Lake Hughes Road near the 5 Freeway, according to Cal Fire.

The Hughes Fire was first reported shortly after 10:30 a.m. along Lake Hughes Road, near Castaic Lake and the 5 Freeway, according to Cal Fire.

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

Much of Southern California is expected to get doused with desperately needed rainfall this weekend – but this could unleash new hazards.

Firefighters assigned to the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake worked overnight to increase containment lines from 36% to 56% as they planned to be ready for the forecast shift of winds from Santa Ana to onshore.

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.

Firefighters are battling to maintain the upper hand on a huge and rapidly moving wildfire that swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles