Tens of thousands have fled their homes as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades has burned more than 15,000 acres as of Wednesday. Earlier, authorities had said the blaze could grow further with strong winds fueling its spread.

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.

We looked across and the fire had jumped from one side of the road to the other side of the road,” Resident Kelsey Trainor said. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags,