Tens of thousands of Southern Californians were ordered to flee their homes Tuesday after a brush fire exploded in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

Fast-moving blaze burns over 1,200 acres in Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, threatening thousands of homes and structures as powerful gusts fuel the flames.

A wildfire raged across an upscale section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, sending large billows of smoke over much of the metropolitan area and causing traffic jams as people fled their homes under evacuation orders.

A windstorm is threatening to spread a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in southern California and could trigger more fires as evacuations are underway.

Evacuations have been ordered for parts of Los Angeles as a life-threatening, widespread windstorm creates extremely dangerous fire weather conditions in Southern California. CNN’s Natasha Chen reports.

As residents fled, firefighters scrambled to corral flames churning along Los Angeles hillsides as winds gained strength Tuesday across Southern California, where forecasters said “life-threatening, destructive” gusts could last for days.