With the Palisades and Eaton fires still not fully contained, a new Southern California blaze sparked up Wednesday north of Santa Clarita, burning more than 9,400 acres in a matter of hours, forcing evacuations by the thousands and shutting down sections of the 5 freeway.

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.

Southern California will continue to face "dangerous fire weather conditions" including strong Santa Ana winds and extremely low humidity through later this week, forecasters said Tuesday.

Southern California’s notorious winds have swept through Santa Clarita, leaving a trail of fallen trees, power outages, and concern among residents. On Tuesday night, a city tree toppled onto a house on the 23100 block of Cerca Drive in Saugus.

Southern California braces for a ferocious return of fire danger as the National Weather Service issues its most urgent warning for extreme fire weather.