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.

At least 510 hectares of the Pacific Palisades area between Santa Monica and Malibu had burned, officials said, after they had already warned of extreme fire danger from dry, powerful winds. The size of the fire grew six-fold in a matter of hours on Tuesday.

Nearly 26,000 people in more than 10,000 households and more than 13,000 structures are under threat from the blaze, said Kristin Crowley, fire chief of the LA Fire Department.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said many structures had already been destroyed.

He warned residents across Southern California not to assume they were out of danger, saying the worst of the winds were expected between 10 pm Tuesday and 5 am Wednesday, local time.

Forecasters predicted the windstorm would last for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 160 kph in mountains and foothills, including in areas that had not seen substantial rain in months.

Resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighbourhood was completely blocked. Ash fell around them while fires burned on both sides of the road.

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

The erratic weather caused President Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, California, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state. Biden will deliver his remarks in Los Angeles instead.

Amazon and MGM Studios cancelled a premiere of Jennifer Lopez’s new film “Unstoppable” due to the fires and high winds. (Agencies)