Construction work has temporarily shuttered the John Wilkie Safety Roadside Rest Area along Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert.

It was first reported just after 11 p.m. near northbound lanes of the freeway in Sherman Oaks, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

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.