By Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A fast-growing wildfire ripped through an upscale section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, destroying homes and creating traffic jams as 30,000 people evacuated under several smoke covered most of the metropolitan area.

At least 2,921 hectares (1,182 acres) in the Pacific Palisades area between the coastal cities of Santa Monica and Malibu have burned, officials said, after they warned of severe fire danger from the intensity that wind came after a long dry spell.

The fire is growing rapidly as officials warn that the worst wind conditions are expected to arrive overnight, leading to concerns that many neighborhoods will be forced to flee.

Witnesses reported dozens of houses on fire with flames nearly engulfing their cars as people fled into the hills of Topanga Canyon, as the flames spread from there to the Pacific Ocean.

“We feel very blessed at this point that there’s no injuries that are reported,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, adding that more than 25,000 people in 10,000 homes were threatened.

Firefighters in the plane fetched water from the sea to drop it on the nearby fire. Houses were engulfed in flames and bulldozers removed abandoned vehicles from roads to allow emergency vehicles to pass, television images showed.

As the sun sets over Los Angeles, tall orange flames illuminate the hills leading up to Topanga Canyon.

The fire burned some trees in the grounds of the Getty Villa, a museum full of priceless works of art, but the collection remained safe thanks to efforts to prevent the cutting of brush surrounding the buildings, the museum said. It will remain closed for at least the rest of the week.

With only one major road from the canyon to the coast, and only one coastal highway to safety, traffic came to a standstill, leading people to flee on foot.

Cindy Festa, a resident of Pacific Palisades, said that as she evacuated from the canyon, the fires were “close to the cars,” showing her thumb and forefinger.

“People are leaving their cars on Palisades Drive. Fires on the hillside. The palm trees – everything’s going on,” Festa said from his car.

Before the fire started, the National Weather Service issued the highest alert for severe fire conditions for much of Los Angeles County from Tuesday through Thursday, predicting wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph (80 to 130 kph).

Strong, dry winds in Santa Ana coming from the deserts of the land combined with low humidity and dry vegetation due to lack of rain. Conditions are “as bad as fire season,” the Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service told X.

Governor Gavin Newsom, who declared a state of emergency, said the state was deploying personnel, firetrucks and aircraft elsewhere in Southern California because of the fire danger in the wider region, he added.

“Hopefully, we’re wrong, but we expect other fires to happen at the same time,” Newsom said at the press conference.

The wind changed the travel plans of President Joe Biden, who grounded Air Force One in Los Angeles. He planned to make a short flight to the Coachella Valley for a ceremony to create two new national monuments in California but the event was rescheduled for a later date at the White House.

Pacific Palisades is home to many Hollywood stars. Actor James Woods told X that he was able to evacuate but added, “I don’t know at this point if our house is still standing.”

Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA television that his friends were prevented from evacuating because others left their cars on the road.

“It’s very important for everyone to come together and don’t worry about your personal property. Just get out,” Guttenberg said. “Take your loved ones and go.”