© David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG
Within minutes a home on Hillrose street in Sunland has burned to the ground at the Creek fire Tuesday.
Ferocious fires tore through Southern California on Tuesday, burning massive stretches of land in a matter of hours and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.
As firefighters in Ventura County grappled with an explosive blaze northwest of downtown Los Angeles, others across the region confronted additional fires that burned during the day and forced more evacuations.
Authorities issued ominous warnings of more dangers to come during a "multiday event" across the area, as weather forecasters said the region faces "extreme fire danger" through at least Thursday due to intense Santa Ana winds and low humidity that could cause the fires to grow rapidly.
The wildfires are the latest grim chapter in a brutal year for California, coming just months after deadly blazes in the state's wine country killed dozens of people and razed thousands of buildings.
The biggest fire Tuesday was in Ventura County, where a small blaze quickly went out of control and spread across more than 50,000 acres by the afternoon. The fire - which burned an area nearly as large as Seattle - stretched into the city of Ventura, home to more than 100,000 people.
"The prospects for containment are not good," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said at a news briefing as the fire was beginning its aggressive expansion. "Really, Mother Nature's going to decide when we have the ability to put it out."
Comment: See also: Raging wildfire threatens hundreds of homes in Ventura County, California; 1,000 households told to evacuate