(CNN) -- Fire crews are battling a swiftly growing blaze dubbed the Hughes Fire burning near the town of Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County. Residents in the immediate vicinity of Castaic Lake are under mandatory evacuations, according to the LA County Fire Department.
As of 12:30 p.m., about 90 minutes after it started, the fire had burned more than 3,400 acres, according to Cal Fire. The fire began at 10:53 a.m. and burned 500 acres in one hour, Cal Fire said. That's equivalent to a spread rate of about a football field burned every 10 seconds.
Images showed a large plume of smoke moving west toward Interstate 5 as flames burned near Castaic Lake in the grassy hills just north of Santa Clarita.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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