The fire exploded from 20 acres to 1,200 acres in mere hours and wind speeds could soon reach 100mph (160km/h).

By Tuesday, those winds had already fanned several blazes across the Los Angeles area, and by 3:30 p.m. local time, Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood west of downtown Los Angeles, saw a 300 acre fire spread to more than 1,

Raging flames driven by a fierce windstorm scorched hundreds of acres across Southern California on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, burning and threatening homes and disrupting the power supply across parts of several counties as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.