Firefighters are battling a new brush fire that erupted along the 405 Freeway in Seal Beach, as they also race to contain the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake.

The Hughes Fire near Castaic, California, has burned over 5,000 acres, prompting evacuations and school closures.

A fast-moving brush fire erupted in Los Angeles County on Wednesday morning, quickly racing across 1,000 acres of terrain, aided by heavy, dry fuels and pushed by gusting Santa Ana winds.

The fast-burning Hughes Fire prompted evacuations on Wednesday morning after it was reporting burning near Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County. (Source: KTTV)

As of Wednesday night, nearly 31,000 people are under evacuation orders with another 23-thousand under evacuation warnings.That fire, hitting close to home for

Firefighters battled two new brush fires - the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake and the Sepulveda Fire in Bel Air, along the 405 Freeway.

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 warnings stretching toward Santa Clarita and reaching the Ventura County line.

Officials have ordered mandatory evacuation orders for areas near Castaic Lake. The Hughes Fire has erupted in Southern California and has already spread across more than 5,000 acres. the CBS News Los Angeles team is reporting on the new mandatory evacuation orders.

A brush fire ignited near Castaic Lake amid windy and dry conditions Wednesday afternoon, forcing evacuations in the area as the blaze quickly grows.

The Hughes Fire in Castaic area has burned more than 9,400 acres in just hours. While Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone called it a "difficult fire," he said that crews are "getting the upper hand on containing the blaze."

With conditions improving on the fire lines and containment growing, evacuation orders and warnings were dramatically scaled back Thursday around the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake. While evacuation orders remained in place for areas around the immediate perimeter of the fire,