California Wildfires Maps: Tracking Evacuations, Smoke and Wind in Los Angeles

Major fires, driven by fierce winds, have scorched the Los Angeles area, destroying homes and businesses and prompting thousands to flee as officials issued evacuation orders for many residential areas.

The Palisades fire was the first to draw major attention on Tuesday. It grew quickly, and had burned thousands of acres by Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Just hours after the Palisades fire began, other worrisome blazes ignited.

The Eaton fire erupted near Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains. By Wednesday morning, it had become deadly. It had also grown by many thousands of acres and had charred hundreds of homes.

The fires have spread quickly, propelled by the heavy Santa Ana winds that generally flow out of the Mojave Desert toward the coast. The winds push the desert air up over the mountains and accelerate as they move down, spreading erratically as they blow into canyons and valleys.

Gusts have reached over 90 m.p.h. over some mountain peaks.

As winds have pushed smoke from the fires throughout the Los Angeles area, air quality has become hazardous in some places.

Here’s where smoke is expected to migrate in the coming hours:

The causes of the fires remain under investigation, according to Cal Fire. Low water supply and dry conditions have made the firefighting effort extremely challenging. Officials have warned that more destruction could follow.

“This is going to be devastating, a devastating loss, for all of Los Angeles,” said Traci Park, the Los Angeles city councilwoman whose district includes Pacific Palisades, the site of the biggest fire.