Wind-whipped wildfire blew through communities of every socioeconomic status and stripe, merging, psychically if not physically, into a kind of mega-catastrophe.

Millions of people across Southern California are under a Red Flag warning as a dangerous windstorm fanned blazes in the Los Angeles area, including the Palisades Fire, which has triggered evacuations and burned hundreds of acres.

Wildfires began breaking out in Southern California Tuesday morning as a life-threatening, widespread windstorm that could be one of the most destructive to hit the region in over a decade roars to life and creates extremely dangerous fire weather conditions.

Raging wildfires that continue to burn a path of destruction through Southern California claimed the Will Rogers ranch along with a number of other local landmarks in what is already the most damaging fire in Los Angeles history.

High winds that weather officials have called "life-threatening and destructive" are hitting Southern California Tuesday, sparking a major brush fire in Pacific Palisades and prompting thousands of power outages.

Southern California faces "extremely critical fire weather" with powerful winds that will result in "widespread" downed trees, power lines and electricity outages Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service warns.

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

These “could be the strongest north winds” the area has seen since November and December 2011, according to forecasters

The ferocious Santa Ana winds that helped fuel the deadly wildfires around Los Angeles are forecast to ease later Wednesday, but they may return.