The blaze began shortly after the start of a Santa Ana windstorm that the National Weather service warned could be the strongest to hit Southern California in more than a decade.

Thousands of people have fled their homes as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades has grown to more than 17,000 acres Wednesday.

Extreme weather conditions in Southern California fueled by ferocious Santa Ana winds have created at least six wildfires, leading to at least five deaths, multiple injuries, 180,000 mandatory evacuations and widespread property destruction.