A fast-moving wildfire exploded to roughly 10,200 acres near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic Wednesday morning, prompting mandatory evacuation orders and road closures, authorities said.

The Hughes Fire has spread over 8,096 acres after starting just before lunchtime in Los Angeles County's Castaic Lake area on Wednesday.

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.