Firefighters scrambled to corral a fast-moving wildfire in the Los Angeles hillsides dotted with celebrity homes as a potentially "life-threatening, destructive" windstorm hit Southern California on Tuesday, fanning the blaze seen for miles while traffic out of the area was jammed as residents tried to flee. Officials say 30,000 people are under evacuation orders and 13,000 structures are threatened, the AP reports. Forecasters warned the worst may be yet to come with the windstorm predicted to last for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills. The winds are toppling trees, creating dangerous surf, and bringing extreme wildfire risk to areas that haven't seen substantial rain in months.
Fire crews are battling a handful of small blazes in the Los Angeles area, including in the foothills of the Pacific Palisades area in western Los Angeles, where residents were ordered to evacuate. The Palisades Fire swiftly consumed almost 2 square miles of land and sent up a huge plume of smoke visible across the city, the AP reports. Residents in Venice Beach, some 6 miles away, reported seeing the flames
- Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his Pacific Palisades home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the large homes on the steep hillside. "Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate," Woods said in the short video on X.
- Actor Steve Guttenberg, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandon their cars to leave their keys behind so he can move their cars out of the way for firetrucks. He described fire burning in the neighborhood as people tried to evacuate. "This is not a parking lot," Guttenberg told KTLA. "I have friends up there and they can't evacuate … I'm walking up there as far as I can moving cars."
- The erratic weather caused President Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, California, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state.
story continues below
- The National Weather Service said what could be the strongest Santa Ana windstorm in more than a decade began Tuesday across Los Angeles and Ventura counties and was forecast to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph.
- The weather service warned of possible downed power lines and knocked-over big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Strong offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.
(More
Southern California stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
