The Tick fire is burning out of control north of Los Angeles and has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes, fire officials said.

The blaze near Santa Clarita broke out Thursday and in just a few hours has burned about 3,950 acres, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. It was 5% contained by late Thursday.

The wind-driven blaze had only scorched a couple hundred acres when it quickly exploded to more than 3,000 acres and destroyed several structures, the fire department said.

The cause is so far unknown.

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