Efforts continued Thursday to contain and suppress multiple Los Angeles-area fires, including the Palisades and Eaton fires that started on Jan. 7 and the Hughes fire that broke out Wednesday.

The Hughes fire, which broke out near Castaic Lake and has spread in both Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, has rapidly grown to more than 10,000 acres in size. It was 14% contained as of Thursday morning, according to a social media post from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

About 31,000 people in the area near the fire are under orders to evacuate and another 23,000 have been warned to evacuate, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, according to The Associated Press.

As of midmorning Thursday, the Eaton fire encompassed 14,021 acres and was 95% contained, and the Palisades fire had burned 23,448 acres and was 72% contained, according to Cal Fire.

In Ventura County, the Laguna fire broke out Thursday near the California State University Channel Islands campus and had grown to about 50 acres in size. The Ventura County Fire Department has ordered the campus evacuated per a post on X.

“Due to the campus evacuation caused by the Laguna Fire, classes (in-person and virtual) for today are canceled,” school officials wrote on Instagram just after 11 a.m. local time.

Conditions in the area remain very dry and windy, and much of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties were at “critical” levels under a red flag fire warning, the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office posted on X Thursday.

In those two counties, winds are expected to peak during the day Thursday, reaching speeds of 35-50 mph in most areas and speeds of 50-65 mph in mountainous areas, the NWS Los Angeles office posted.

The Eaton fire is the second-most destructive in California history, with 9,418 structures destroyed, while the Palisades fire is the third-most destructive, with 6,662 structures destroyed, according to Cal Fire data.

The Eaton fire is currently the fifth-deadliest in California history with 17 confirmed deaths, while the Palisades fire has caused 11 confirmed deaths, according to Cal Fire data.

Another fire, the Sepulveda fire, broke out along Interstate 405 and near North Sepulveda Boulevard near the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sherman Oaks late Wednesday night. The fire’s forward progress was stopped a few hours later, the Los Angeles City Fire Department said in a public alert.

That blaze is about 45 acres in size and is 60% contained, Cal Fire said on its website.

In Riverside County, on the other side of the greater Los Angeles area, the Clay fire near Jurupa Valley, was 39 acres in size and 70% contained according to Cal Fire.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.