Firefighters battle flames during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Photographer: Kyle Grillot/BloombergWeather & Science
Staggering Scenes of Destruction as Wildfires Engulf LA
A wind storm is fanning flames that have forced thousands to flee.
The fire started Tuesday morning in the Pacific Palisades, an enclave in western Los Angeles nestled between Malibu and Santa Monica, where the median home sells for $3.4 million. Fierce Santa Ana winds and brittle dry brush fed the flames, stirring a conflagration that remains out of control and continues to spread.
By mid-morning Wednesday, a dull orange sun burned through the dense black smoke that drifted across the second-largest US city. Ash coated parked cars and embers danced ahead of the fire front, setting buildings and foliage ablaze.