Urban wildfire destroys homes in

Motorists on Highway 101 watch flames from wildfires leap above the roadway north of Ventura, California. 

With thick plumes of smoke, towering flames and mass evacuations, a fast-moving wildfire struck one of America’s major cities. As fires raged out of control across Southern California, a new blaze erupted in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles.Los Angeles| With thick plumes of smoke, towering flames and mass evacuations, a fast-moving wildfire struck one of America’s major cities on Thursday (AEDT).

As fires raged out of control across Southern California, a new blaze erupted in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles, near iconic landmarks like the UCLA campus and the Getty Museum, home to old masters paintings and ancient Roman statues.

It burned up to the edges of the 405 freeway, the nation’s busiest highway carrying about 400,000 vehicles a day, where the northbound lanes were closed for much of the day and commuters drove through a shower of ash with flames rising in the horizon.

Sixty kilometres to the north east, the largest of several fires under way had consumed by Wednesday night 36,000 hectares and at least 150 structures – probably many more, fire officials said

– and threatened 12,000 others in the city of Ventura and neighbouring communities. Other major fires were burning in the northern San Fernando Valley and the rugged region north of Los Angeles.

The new outbreaks have forced nearly 200,000 people in the Los Angeles and Ventura areas to evacuate, officials said, and extremely high winds are likely to make matters worse.

Fire season usually peaks in October in California, but officials suggested that with climate change, more fires are occurring later in the year.

‘‘These are days that break your heart,’’ Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said at a news conference. ‘‘These are also days that show the resilience of our city.’’

It was a day in which smoke from the fires ringing the region could be spotted from the Santa Monica Pier, the streets of downtown and the beaches of Santa Catalina Island. And in a city where residents live outdoors, many stayed home to avoid the foul air.

By Wednesday evening, the fire in Bel-Air consumed at least 192 hectares and a handful of structures, small figures compared with some of the other blazes. But in such a densely populated area, the prospect of warm, dry Santa Ana winds whipping the flames into other neighbourhoods had many residents of Los Angeles’ west side preparing for possible evacuation. Officials ordered 700 homes in Bel-Air to be evacuated.

At least four houses burned in hilly Bel-Air, where sprawling villas can cost tens of millions.

Wind blowing from the north east raised fears that the fire could jump the freeway, into the area around the Brentwood neighbourhood and where the sprawling Getty sits on a hilltop overlooking I-405.

The fires in total destroyed more than 300 homes, businesses and other buildings.

The situation in Southern California is similar to what occurred in Northern California in October, when high, hot winds fuelled fires that killed 40 people and destroyed thousands of homes. But while Northern California has since had a lot of rain that has essentially eliminated the fire threat, the south has remained dry.

‘‘We haven’t had any meaningful precipitation since March,’’ Mr Rolinski said.