Smoke poured from the Hughes Fire, a new wind-driven wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, 22 January. The blaze prompted evacuations orders for remote communities nearby as it quickly burned through hundreds of acres of trees and brush, sending up a huge plume of dark smoke near the Lake Castaic area. It comes as Southern California could expect some badly-needed rain this weekend following earlier devastating wildfires. However even a small amount of precipitation could create new challenges like toxic ash runoff.
