By Staff Reports/Wire Services from NBC Los Angeles
A fast-moving brush fire quickly scorched about 10,000 acres in the Lake Hughes area Wednesday, prompting mandatory evacuations.
The Lake Fire was reported at about 3:30 p.m. near North Lake Hughes Road and Pine Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest, according to Marvin Lim of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which was battling the blaze with Angeles National Forest crews.
The fire had a “rapid rate of spread,” and the Angeles National Forest and county fire departments called in second-alarm responses.
Between 400 and 500 homes were under mandatory evacuations, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
An evacuation center has been set up at Highland High School in Palmdale, for residents displaced due to the 10,000-acre Lake Fire burning in Lake Hughes, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Highland High School is located at 39055 25th Street West, near West Avenue P 8.
By 4:30 p.m., the flames had burned 400 acres, and officials said the fire had the potential to burn 1,000 acres, according the Los Angeles County Fire Department. That quickly changed two hours later, when the flames exploded across an estimated 10,000 acres, with no containment.
The fire was entirely on federal land as of 6:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Read more from NBC Los Angeles
