See photos of fire, smoke and flight as wildfires race across Southern California

Strong winds that sent wildfires ripping through the mountains and foothills around Los Angeles on Wednesday fed a spectacle of smoke, flames and flight.

Large flames

Vivid orange flames lit the sky in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where firefighters dragged hoses to meet blazes flaring up in brush dried out by persistent drought. Others fought to protect structures from the fires.

Protecting Homes

Firefighters raced to try to beat the flames back from homes. A helicoper dropped water in one area, while a firefighter jumped a fence near a home with flames approaching. Meanwhile, a woman stood outside of her garage, hand on her head, as a firetruck sprayed water on a neighboring house.

Evacuations

The fast-moving fires forced residents to evacuate. One woman wept as she stood next to her car as bright flames burned in the background. Another person ran alongside a line of cars as smoke filled the skyline.

Beach and smoke

As the Pacific Palisades fire scorched more than 200 acres, billowing smoke was visible for miles. One surfer road a wave, with smoke in the background. Two other people laid on the sand, a white plume nearly filling the sky behind them. And a pair of bicyclists pedaled along the beach against an afternoon sky made twilight by the looming smoke.

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