What to know about wildfires raining embers onto the Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fierce wildfires are raging in the Los Angeles area, with fast-moving flames burning through homes and businesses as residents flee smoke-filled canyons and picturesque neighborhoods that are home to many celebrities.

Many of the towering fires began Tuesday and were fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds, which gusted more than 70 mph (112 kph) in some spots. The winds persisted Wednesday and made it too dangerous for aircraft to attack the fires from the sky, furthering hampering their efforts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state has deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel to battle the blazes. In a rare, urgent plea, the Los Angeles Fire Department asked all off-duty firefighters in the city to help.

Here's what to know about the fires:

The Palisades Fire

The Palisades Fire, which started around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, had burned 4.5 square miles (11.6 square kilometers), according to officials.

It rained flaming embers onto trees and rooftops in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Residents rushing to escape created a traffic jam on Palisades Drive, blocking emergency vehicles from getting through. Crews used a bulldozer to push the abandoned cars off to the side.

Photos depict what some residents describe as an apocalyptic scene.

Other fires

The Eaton Fire in the Altadena area, which started around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, quickly burned 1.6 square miles (4 square kilometers) by early Wednesday according to fire officials.

The Hurst Fire started around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and prompted evacuations in Sylmar, a San Fernando Valley community in the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles. That fire had grown to 500 acres (202 hectares) by early Wednesday. The Tyler Fire in Coachella was relatively small, burning 15 acres (6 hectares).

The fires were at 0% containment.

Evacuations

About 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat, authorities said. Many of the evacuations were in the Pacific Palisades area, but others were in parts of Santa Monica and Altadena.

The forecast

Santa Ana winds increased late Tuesday and in the early morning hours Wednesday, and more strong winds are in the forecast. Winds could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills — including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months, the National Weather Service said.

Ongoing red flag warnings highlight extremely critical fire weather conditions due to a combination of strong wind gusts in some of the highest terrain Wednesday morning and exceptionally dry relative humidity levels, according to Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in College Park, Maryland.