A fire in Los Angeles grew with dizzying speed on Tuesday and by the afternoon had engulfed many homes in Pacific Palisades, an affluent coastal neighborhood on the city’s west side.
The fire grew from 300 acres to almost 3,000 by the evening. It was fueled by a fierce windstorm, and the worst could be yet to come: Gusts of up to 100 miles per hour, the strongest Southern California has seen in a decade, were forecast through Wednesday.
The evacuation of Pacific Palisades, home to about 24,000 people and many celebrities, stalled traffic along Sunset Boulevard. Some people abandoned their vehicles and escaped on foot. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it would use a bulldozer to move about 30 abandoned vehicles.
“By no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
