The Clay Fire has sparked in Riverside County on Tuesday night as wildfires continue to plague Southern California.

The Hughes fire, spanning Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has forced mandatory evacuations for 31,000 people, with 23,000 under warnings. Warnings for evacuations and orders have recently been downgraded.

Updating maps of Southern California show where wildfires, including the Palisades, Eaton and Hughes fires, are burning across Los Angeles.

Six wildfires are burning in Southern California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

At least 28 people are believed to be dead and more than a dozen others remain unaccounted for as multiple wildfires rage across Southern California.

Non-native grasses and eucalyptus trees brought to California centuries ago for agriculture and landscaping have reshaped the state’s fire dynamics.

Cal Fire’s total base wildfire protection budget has nearly tripled over the past 10 years, from $1.1 billion in 2014‑15 to $3 billion in 2023‑24.

The Hughes Fire, reported shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday near Castaic Lake, prompted evacuation of a 280-square-mile area north of Los Angeles. The map above shows the mandatory evacuation area in red and the approximate perimeter as a black line.

Over two weeks into the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, California, at least 28 fatalities have now been confirmed, up from an earlier count of 27, the country medical examiner's office said Tuesday. Four wildfires are still burning across Los Angeles County, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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.

“We really are dealing with a new wildfire paradigm,” said ... according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Not including the latest fires, the department reports ...

Parched Southern California was forecast to face more dangerous winds on Wednesday but could get some needed rain this weekend, dampening prospects of another round of deadly wildfires while raising the possibility of challenges like toxic ash runoff.