Progress made as firefighters battle new blaze near Los Angeles

Despite dangerous fire weather threatening Southern California, firefighters who battled through the night to tame a new fire that erupted near Los Angeles appeared to be moving forward.

A massive response involving aircraft, bulldozers and 4, 000 personnel had swung into action as flames raced across hillsides in Castaic, 56km (35 miles) north of Los Angeles.

A region already suffering from the two deadly fires that ripped through America’s second-largest city this month was stricken by the orders to flee their homes, causing misery to the environ 31, 000 residents.

The newly emerged Hughes fire continued to grow overnight, and by Thursday had consumed 10, 000 acres (4, 050 hectares), but its rate of growth had slowed considerably after an explosive first few hours.

Source: Aljazeera