More than 50,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings from new fire

A firefighter monitors flames caused by the Hughes Fire along Castaic Lake in Castaic, California (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

More than 50,000 people in Southern California were under evacuation orders or warnings on Wednesday as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles.

The Hughes Fire broke out in the late morning as the parched region endured another round of dangerous winds and within hours charred more than 15 square miles of trees and brush, sending up plumes of dark smoke near Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area about 40 miles from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.