More than 31,000 people have been ordered to evacuate from the Hughes Fire, and another 23,000 are under evacuation warnings, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned. Parts of Interstate 5 near the Hughes Fire that had been closed reopened Wednesday evening.

Santa Ana winds will continue whipping through Southern California through Thursday, sparking fears that progress made fighting wildfires that have scorched over 40,000 acres and left 28 dead could be reversed and more blazes could break out.

"A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly," the NWS said.

A red flag warning was issued by the NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA on Wednesday at 9:40 a.m. in effect until Thursday at 8 p.m. The warning is for Western Santa Monica Mountains Recreational area, Eastern Santa Monica Mountains Recreational area,

Southern California will see its first significant rainfall event of the winter over the weekend, but it’ll have to get through a couple more days of fire weather first. The National Weather Service warned that single-digit humidity and strong wind gusts on Thursday and into early Friday could create critical fire weather conditions throughout the