A fast-moving wildfire exploded to roughly 10,200 acres near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic Wednesday morning, prompting mandatory evacuation orders and road closures, authorities said.

Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

A firefighting helicopter pulled off a clean water drop over the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area of Los Angeles County.

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.