The fire — which erupted near Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County, north of Santa Clarita, late Wednesday morning — has grown to over 10,000 acres.

A new fire broke out near Los Angeles’ Bel Air neighborhood early on Thursday as the Hughes fire which was first reported a day earlier in northern Los Angeles County grew rapidly to set ablaze more than 10,000 acres, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders and warnings to more than 50,000 people.

The big picture: The Hughes Fire ignited north of Santa Clarita, just before 11am Wednesday local time and grew across 5,000 acres in LA and Ventura Counties in just over two hours — making it the biggest and fastest-spreading wildfire since the still-burning Eaton and Palisades Fires erupted on Jan. 7.

The fire threat remains critical in Southern California, where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.