Firefighters in California are battling a fast-moving wildfire which is sweeping an exclusive Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity homes.
Officials say the wildfire is being fanned by “life-threatening” and “destructive” winds hitting southern California.
Around 30,000 residents have been ordered to leave because of the blaze, which is tearing through the foothills of the upmarket Pacific Palisades, located between Santa Monica and Malibu.
Pic: AP
The smoke cloud from the flames is so high, it can be seen from LA’s famous Venice Beach, more than six miles away.
Actor James Woods has shared footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his Pacific Palisades home.
He said on the X social media platform that he had been evacuated, adding: “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing, but sadly houses on our little street are not.”
The award-winning actor, 77, later wrote that he had been told that his neighbour’s house had caught fire, but that “fortunately, they were safely evacuated”.
Smoke from a wildfire is seen from Venice Beach. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, actor Steve Guttenberg, who also lives in the area, has been helping to move parked cars to make way for fire engines.
“This is not a parking lot,” he told local media.
“I have friends up there and they can’t evacuate… I’m walking up there as far as I can moving cars.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wildfire reaches California houses
Read more from Sky News:
Trump refuses to rule out force over Panama Canal and Greenland
Trump asks court to dismiss hush money conviction
Kristin Crowley, fire chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said the area is experiencing “extreme fire weather conditions” and that more than 250 firefighters are currently attempting to battle the blaze.
She said the fire was initially reported as a 10-acre fire, but, fanned by 40mph winds, had since spread to more than 1,200 acres “and growing”.
Ms Crowley says the job of firefighters tackling the blaze is being made “extremely challenging” due to “strong winds and surrounding topography”.
No injuries have so far been reported, but the service has received “multiple reports” of damage to buildings in the area.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
California governor, Gavin Newsom, says many structures have already been destroyed.
The US National Weather Service says what could be the strongest Santa Ana wind storm for more than a decade is expected to begin in the afternoon across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
It is expected to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80mph, and up to 100mph in the mountains and foothills.
The area where the fire has struck, Pacific Palisades, has long been a celebrity hideaway.
To the south, the area boasts a three-mile stretch of beach that featured in the 1963 Beach Boys hit, Surfin’ U.S.A, as well as craggy cliffs and popular hiking trails to the north.
One of its most popular attractions is the Getty Villa, a branch of the famous J. Paul Getty Museum focused on Greek and Roman antiquities.
Alongside Woods and Guttenberg, the area is reportedly home to double Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, actress and film director Reese Witherspoon, and Happy Gilmore and Grown Ups star, Adam Sandler.
