The fire threat remains critical in Southern California, where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.

A new wildfire expanded rapidly north of Los Angeles, growing to more than 5,000 acres and forcing more evacuations. Strong winds kept Los Angeles County on high alert. And some who lost their homes found themselves dealing with a new concern: having their identities stolen by criminals fraudulently applying for relief benefits.

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.

President Trump doubled down on his threats to withhold aid from California, where wildfires are raging, without a change in the management of water from leaders in the Golden State. Trump told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in an interview Wednesday that California Gov.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to withhold federal disaster aid for wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles unless California leaders change the state's approach on its management of water. In a Fox News interview,

President Donald Trump once again raised the possibility of withholding federal disaster aid for Southern California’s wildfires unless certain conditions are met. “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down” from the northern part of the state to the south,