A fast moving wind-driven wildfire burned more than 100 acres late Tuesday night in Sylmar, forcing emergency evacuations in some neighborhoods.
The Hurst fire was reported shortly before 10:30 p.m. near Diamond Road, according to Cal Fire.
Within 15 minutes the blaze exploded to more than 100 acres, jumped the 210 Freeway and began to spread in the Angeles National Forest along the footprint of the Saddle Ridge Fire that burned 8,799 acres in October 2019, Watch Duty, which tracks firefighting efforts in real time, said on its website.
The Los Angeles Emergency Management Department ordered people in the area north of the 210 Freeway from Roxford Street to the 5 Freeway/14 Freeway split to immediately evacuate.
Numerous posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed drivers attempting to escape the Hurst Fire.
The blaze was purportedly within two miles of the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall which houses about 50 youth. However, an individual, who answered a phone call placed to the facility at around 12:15 a.m. but didn’t provide their name said there were no immediate plans to evacuate.
Click here for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Hurst fire evacuation map.
The rapidly spreading blaze marked the third major fire Tuesday in Los Angeles County fanned by high winds and dry vegetation.
The Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades scorched more than 2,920 acres amid a strong windstorm burning multiple homes and forcing 30,000 residents to evacuate.
By 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the city of Santa Monica issued an evacuation order for all parts of the city north of San Vicente Boulevard, closing the area to public access.
Later in the evening, a freelance photographer for Key News Network said powerful flames consumed an apartment building and a gas station in the 15500 block of Sunset Boulevard at Via De La Paz.
Also on Tuesday, the Eaton fire forced evacuations in Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia and Sierra Madre. Homes could be seen burning through the communities as the fire burned more than 400 acres.
This is a developing story and will be updated