Thousands of people have fled their homes as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades has grown to more than 17,200 acres Wednesday.

Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks

A windstorm is threatening to spread a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in southern California and could trigger more fires as evacuations are underway.

Weather officials have issued a red flag warning for parts of Southern California as extreme fire conditions increase.

As Southern California residents brace for a "life-threatening and destructive" windstorm, weather officials urge safety precautions as strong Santa Ana winds hit the region. The National Weather Service is warning that this weather event will "likely be the most destructive windstorm seen since 2011.

The region’s utility company said it was prepared to cut power to more than 400,000 customers to try to prevent more blazes.