As a fire ignited in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, the winds crashed over and through the mountains like white water rapids. Winds as strong as those in a hurricane propelled the flames through dense urban neighborhoods, and swirling fire whirls danced from home to home, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Strong winds — with gusts as high as 79 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains — began blowing their way through Southern California on Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, leading to the possibility of downed trees and wires, power outages and dangerous fire weather.

Tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades grew to more than 20,400 acres by Friday.

Southern California suffered through multiple massive fires, with thousands escaping their homes and two deaths reported. It's expected to get worse.

Four fast-moving wildfires are spreading across communities in the Los Angeles area. High winds have dramatically raised the risk of wildfires for the next several days. Palisades Fire A brush fire in Pacific Palisades has grown to more than 17,

A windstorm is threatening to spread a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in southern California and could trigger more fires as evacuations are underway.