A new wind-swept brush fire erupted in Sylmar shortly before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, quickly burning at least 500 acres, forcing freeway shutdowns and prompting evacuation orders affecting more than 40,000 people in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.
When the fire first broke out, immediate evacuation orders were issued north of Interstate 210 from Roxford Street to the Interstate 5/State Route 14 split in the Newhall Pass.
Those evacuation orders for the Hurst Fire were soon expanded to include some southern portions of the Santa Clarita Valley. By about midnight, new voluntary evacuation orders were also being ordered west of I-5 and in the northern San Fernando Valley, along the State Route 118 corridor…