Wednesday, 3:49 p.m. PST The Hughes Fire increased to 8,096 acres, spreading northeast and triggering 12 evacuation warnings and 10 evacuation orders for adjacent areas. Wednesday, 1:17 p.m. PST The Hughes Fire spread to 5,054 acres in a largely mountainous area.

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.