A brush fire erupted Tuesday evening in the Eaton Canyon area, with flames fanned by gusting Santa Ana winds and quickly scarring hundreds of acres and burning multiple structures.
The fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. in the area of Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in the hills above Altadena, according to Cal Fire.
Initially dubbed the Close Fire but later changed to the Eaton Fire, the blaze was initially estimated at about 10 acres, but it quickly exploded across 200 acres thanks to Santa Ana winds that prompted critical fire danger warnings throughout the region.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for the area north of New York Drive, east of Altadena Drive and west of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, according to Angeles National Forest officials. Authorities were working to establish an evacuation center.
It was unclear how many people were impacted by the order.
Crews from the U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles County and Pasadena were working to slow the flames.
The fire broke out as emergency crews were already stretched thin due to a massive blaze burning in the Pacific Palisades area.