A new wildfire has broken out north of Los Angeles, spreading quickly and prompting evacuation orders.
The fire broke out before noon and quickly burned hundreds of acres of trees and bushes, sending a huge plume of dark smoke near the Castaic Lake area in northern Los Angeles County, the Associated Press reports, quoted by BNR.
The fire was being fanned by strong and dry Santa Ana winds.
An evacuation was ordered in the Castaic Lake area, which is about 35 miles north of Los Angeles and near the city of Santa Clarita.
"I'm just praying our house doesn't burn down," a local resident told KTLA television station as he packed his luggage and loaded it into his car.
Television footage showed police patrolling the neighborhood and urging people to get out.
Southern California is reeling after huge wildfires have scorched parts of Los Angeles, killing nearly 40 people and destroying about 12,000 structures, news agencies recall.
The authorities in Los Angeles were preparing for possible rainfall, and some residents were allowed to return to the scorched areas of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Firefighters were extinguishing small fires that broke out during gusts of wind, the AP added.