Progress is made on a huge fire north of Los Angeles while new fires erupt in Southern California

Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but new blazes erupted in San Diego County, briefly triggering more evacuations.

Southern California is under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday. The area has been facing constant challenges in controlling the fires, as dangerous winds gained strength again Thursday.

The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 41 square kilometres of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 64 kilometres from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.

Crews made significant progress by late afternoon on the Hughes Fire with about a quarter of it contained.

Two new blazes were reported Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuations were ordered but were later lifted after a brush fire erupted in the late afternoon in the wealthy enclave of La Jolla near the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Further south, near the US-Mexico border, another blaze was quickly spreading through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, home to the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and other unique species.

In Ventura County, a new fire briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus of about 7,000 students. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning.

Rain is forecast for the weekend, potentially ending Southern California’s dry spell that has lasted months. Winds are also not as strong as they were when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.

That helped the fight against the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area north of Los Angeles, allowing helicopters to drop water, which kept it from growing, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said.

“We had helicopters dropping water until around 3am That kept it in check,” he said.

Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned.

The low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and strong winds came as firefighters continued battling the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires. Officials remained concerned that those fires could break their containment lines as firefighters continue watching for hot spots. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 72 per cent, and the Eaton Fire was at 95 per cent on Thursday.

Those two fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out January 7.

Rain was expected to start Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Officials welcomed the wet weather, but crews also were shoring up hillsides and installing barriers to prevent debris flows as residents returned to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.

The California fires have overall caused at least $US28 billion in insured damage and probably a little more in uninsured damage, according to Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modelling firm known for accurate post-catastrophe damage assessments.

On the heels of that assessment, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.

The state Legislature on Thursday approved a more than $US2.5 billion fire relief package, in part to help the Los Angeles area recover from the fires.

Trump plans to travel to the state to see the damage firsthand Friday, but it wasn’t clear whether he and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will meet during the visit.