Days before one of the largest wildfires the area has ever seen broke out in southern California, forecasters had been warning of extreme wind.
Wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres per hour in the mountains were on their way.
Rain in the winter, followed by an extended period of dry air and drought, had left the hills around Los Angeles covered in an excess of parched vegetation.
The area, in short, was a tinderbox.
The first of multiple fires was first reported around 10am Tuesday local time.
Within 20 minutes it had grown from just a few hectares to more than 80.
In the 24 hours that followed, it would burn through almost 7,000 hectares in the hills.
Now dubbed the Palisades fire, it is one of several in the area that remain uncontained.
What caused the Los Angeles wildfires?
Once uncommon in California in January, wildfires are now considered a year-round risk for the state.
Drying conditions and shifting weather trends mean residents are seeing increasingly massive blazes with each passing season.
A strangely shaped storm system over the lower Colorado River Valley has brought with it unusually strong winds, amplified by what experts call a "mountain wave" event.
A mountain wave phenomenon occurs when there are certain temperatures above a mountain range and particular winds passing over those mountains.
That, according to National Weather Service scientist Paul Schlatter, is what's fuelling the California fires.
"When those conditions line up perfectly, it does behave just like a wave in the ocean, when the winds flow over the mountains and then come crashing down on the other side," he said.
"Any fire under those conditions is going to go quickly out of control."
The US National Weather Service had also issued a warning over "critically dry fuels".
As the average temperature in California warmed by roughly one degree Celsius since 1980, the number of days with vulnerable dry vegetation has doubled, according to fire management expert Lindon Pronto.
"Eventually you have a compounding effect where you see much more extreme fire behaviour at different times of the year … whether it's in December or January," he said.
Further down from the increased vegetation is another fire risk — in LA's urban landscape, the city teems with hanging power cables, wooden telephone poles and wooden homes.
Just a few hours after an extreme wind warning was issued, parts of the desert city were ablaze.
The sparks, caught on the breeze, jumped highways and landed on rooftops. Palm trees flared up like match sticks against the night sky.
Tuesday night was just the beginning.
Residents flee spreading flames and 'war zone' conditions
As the Palisades fire spread, the Los Angeles Fire Department issued a mandatory evacuation order for a large area spanning from the hillside to the coastline.
The second fire, dubbed the Eaton fire, broke out 50km inland at 6.18pm, doubling in size to 162 hectares in just a few hours.
A third, the Hurst fire, started in LA's northernmost suburb of Sylmar late Tuesday night.
As more than 30,000 people rushed to evacuate their homes, the approaching flames forced some to abandon their cars, leaving roadways impassable.
"People left their cars on Palisades Drive," resident Cindy Festa told Reuters.
"Burning up the hillside, the palm trees — everything is going."
When gas canisters at neighbouring homes began exploding under the heat of the flames, Altadena resident Kevin Williams knew it was time to run.
"The wind whipped up, the flames were up about [9-12 metres] and you hear 'pop, pop, pop'," he said.
"It sounded like a war zone.
"I told my family, 'we don't have to worry about this … there's no way in the world that the fire is going to get down here'.
"There were two big explosions that actually shifted the ground, and so I knew it was time to get out. You know, there's a time to be brave, and there is a time to use some common sense."
The Lidia fire in Acton broke out the following afternoon, around 2pm Wednesday local time, spreading to more than 140 hectares by nightfall.
[datawrapper map]The Sunset fire followed shortly after, breaking out near the Hollywood Hills just before 6pm on Wednesday night.
It remains the only fire wholly contained, according to local authorities.
The Kenneth fire sprang up on Thursday afternoon local time, spreading to more than 360 hectares in just a few hours, followed by the Archer fire a day later.
Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley said the rapid growth of the Kenneth fire showed the city was "absolutely not out of this extreme weather event".
Extreme winds spread fire and hamper LA firefighters
The intense winds were doing more than just spreading the fire further — they were also halting emergency efforts.
Officials were forced to ground water-dropping helicopters late on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Firefighters were forced to rely on the water supply on the ground, along with water tanker trucks.
The overuse of the local water supply and power outages in hard-hit areas meant firefighters struggled with low water pressure.
Water shortages caused some fire hydrants to run dry in the Pacific Palisades area.
One resident, Mark McMillan, was helping fight the fire in his girlfriend's neighbourhood, and told Reuters most resources had been sent to "the front line".
"But here they only have two engines for this whole neighbourhood and they're out of water," he said.
"They ran out of water from the lines here, but they also don't have water in their trucks [and] so they've been setting up pumps.
"They go from pools and the neighbours on either side of the house.
"The fire is too big for two engines to be able to stop."
Fire burns through Los Angeles indiscriminately
As the Palisades fire continues to burn and spread across the area, dozens of blocks sit flattened to smouldering rubble in its wake.
Only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remain.
In Malibu, blackened palm strands are all that is left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
[los angeles demographic] The fire has burned through suburbs indiscriminate of income or lifestyle.
"There are places in the Palisades that are 100-year-old, historic Los Angeles buildings, gone up in smoke," Variety's Steven Gaydos told ABC NewsRadio's Laura Tchilinguirian.
"I think the thing to keep in mind is, these are beautiful homes, I think the median value of a home in Palisades is four and a half million dollars.
"But tucked in between and around all of these wealthy people, all these homes … of the stars and famous people, are all the other people that are just Angelenos.
"They're just people who live here and work, and [it's] their businesses, their markets, the entire village of the Palisades."
The Palisades fire — the most destructive in Los Angeles history — has expanded further over the weekend after a change in wind direction, burning through more than 9,000 hectares.
According to the LA County Sheriff's Department, more than 153,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, with 57,000 structures at risk.
The neighbourhood includes thousands of people with a disability, elderly people, and school children.
In the Eaton area the numbers are still more alarming.
A population of 102,921 people — many of them service workers, blue collar workers and veterans — are at risk in the area.
Almost 8,000 households include someone with a disability, and more than 1,800 do not have a car to evacuate.
Of the structures at risk, 13,827 were built before 1939.
[los angeles workers] Some advocates and outreach workers in the LA area have been working to distribute supplies and find housing for those left with nothing in the fires' wake.
One, World Central Kitchen's Jose Andres, said he would feed those impacted regardless of politics or class.
"Like every place in the world, there are people with ways and means, and people without them," he said.
"But you have to be there with all the people, no matter what.
"Everybody needs support and love in these moments. Wealth or not, poor or not. It is the right thing to do. So you try to make sure nobody is left behind or forgotten."
More fatalities expected as fires continue to burn out of control
So far at least 11 people have been killed – with five linked to the Eaton fire and two linked to the Palisades fire.
A further four deaths have as yet not been linked to a specific fire.
LA County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone confirmed "human remains detection teams" would be going from home to home searching for more victims.
LA County sheriff Robert Luna said officials were investigating burned neighbourhoods, adding he hoped they would not "discover too many fatalities".
"That's our prayer," he said during a news conference on Thursday night.
"But this is a crisis, and we don't know what to expect."
The Lidia fire is now fully contained.
As of Saturday local time, the Hurst fire was 76 per cent contained, while the Palisades fire was just 11 per cent contained.
According to Cal Fire, a total 92 wildfires were burning as of Thursday night, with more than 10,000 structures destroyed.
For the Palisades fire alone, Cal Fire has recorded more than 3,712 personnel across 64 crews, 24 helicopters, 463 fire engines and 62 water tenders as part of the effort to contain the blaze.
In evacuation zones, police cars now circle the streets with speakers.
"This is the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, you're being advised to evacuate this area," they announce.
"It is a mandatory evacuation."
Senator Adam Schiff warned there could be more fires across the area "before this is over", calling the disaster "unprecedented".
"We keep seeing these fires pop up in different places," he said.
"If you are told to evacuate, then get the hell out."
LA-style fire 'inevitable' in Australia, say experts, amid global climate change
The fierce winds eased, giving firefighters a temporary respite on Thursday night, but forecasters predicted they could return.
Several officials have already described the aftermath as “apocalyptic”, with Sheriff Luna saying some neighbourhoods looked “like an atomic bomb dropped”.
Schools have been closed in the area due to smoke and ash in the air.
In some areas residents have been ordered to not use the tap water due to the contamination risk.
Along with the current fire risk, residents of California and in other fire-prone regions around the world face an increasing threat.
Fire risk globally is worsening, according to chief executive of Natural Hazards Research Australia Andrew Gissing.
"An LA-style fire impacting a major Australian city is inevitable and we must be prepared," he said.
"Research shows that the frequency and severity of fire weather has risen in recent decades and is expected to continue. Fire seasons are also becoming longer."
Dr Arnagretta Hunter, a Human Futures Fellow at the Australian National University, said "no place" was immune from future catastrophic events.
"Climate change is not selective in its impacts," she said.
"The global climate is changing and all of us will feel this through weather events we have not seen before."
ABC/AP/Reuters
