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A growing force of firefighters and equipment moved into the Los Angeles area Monday as another round of powerful winds threatened to trigger new wildfires and set back recent progress in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 square miles of trees and brush near Lake Castaic.

Overnight water drops helped stop the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles and firefighters battled to increase containment as dangerous winds whipped up again Thursday.