A rapidly expanding wildfire broke out north of Los Angeles, while two major fires that had burned in the metro area for more than two weeks were being brought under control, firefighters said.
Fierce flames devoured the hills near Castaic Lake on Wednesday, quickly spreading to cover more than 9,400 acres (3,800 hectares) in just a few hours.
The evacuation of 31,000 people was ordered around the lake, located 56 km north of Los Angeles and near the city of Santa Clarita.
The U.S. Forest Service said the entire 700,000-acre (2,800 km2) park in the San Gabriel Mountains was closed to visitors.
As the new fire raged, the two deadly blazes that ravaged Los Angeles were better contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
Since the two fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly as large as Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates damage and economic losses at more than $250 billion.
