'Hurricane of Fire': Malibu Burns To The Ground As 100+ MPH Wind Gusts Explode Wildfires Around Los Angeles

Jordan Stern. Shutterstock Images.

Yesterday morning a small fire broke out in the hills of the Pacific Palisades between Santa Monica & Malibu, and by evening it was nearly 3,000 acres, fueled by wind gusts up to 100MPH. 

The rapid spread seems to have caught thousands off guard and it appears that many who got stuck in traffic panicked and abandoned their cars to escape on foot, creating a jam that made it impossible for first responders to reach various neighborhoods. They had bulldozers and, randomly, Police Academy actor Steve Guttenberg, desperately moving vehicles. Adding to the chaos were the extreme Santa Ana winds which grounded helicopters & left firefighters unable to drop water & flame retardant on land that has seen less than an inch of rain since July. 

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Over 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate, the LAFD put all off-duty members on alert for recall and outside of the Palisades Fire multiple others have sparked and are growing with little to no containment. 

There's also fear of more fires starting as the wind storm continues and this clip shows one of the reasons why:

Obviously the images coming out of this disaster have been insane, especially if you've ever had the luck of living in/visiting that area and driving through the canyons & along the Coast Highway. Much of that will be totally unrecognizable for a long time:

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One of the craziest videos making the rounds was this one below of people trapped in their home as the fire raged around it, but according to a follow-up post they were able to escape (though I have no idea how):

Crazy. The Pacific Palisades fire is now at over 5K acres with no sign of slowing as the winds continue. Much love to everyone effected & to the LAFD & everyone else who has been & will be deployed to these fire zones.