Wildfires latest: Hundreds of thousands without power as wildfires tear across California

Wildfires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force on Wednesday after setting off a desperate escape from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke.

Flames broke out on Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA while another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and prompted evacuations in Sylmar, the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles.