LOS ANGELES >> A fire was burning out of control Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, destroying homes and forcing residents to flee amid a potentially “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm.

Most of Pacific Palisades was under an evacuation order by the afternoon, as residents fought traffic jams and heavy smoke trying to escape the flames. The blaze broke out around 10:30 a.m. near Piedra Morada Drive and was pushed by intense wind gusts that officials had warned could fuel any spark into a fast-moving and erratic wildfire. It was more than 700 acres by the afternoon.

“It’s bad. It’s like an inferno,” said Lori Libonati, who lives in Pacific Palisades and saw the fire start to burn Tuesday morning before evacuating.

Capt. Erik Scott, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson, said that some homes had burned in the fire, but a precise estimate was not immediately available.

The region remains under severe red flag warnings as dry, unpredictable and strong offshore winds pick up across the region. The National Weather Service said strong north winds are expected around the fire through at least today, with speeds peaking Tuesday night from 35 to 60 mph.

In some parts of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, gusts up to 100 mph are possible as the dangerous windstorm drags on. Wind speeds had already hit 60 to 70 mph in some areas of the eastern Santa Monica mountains, not far from the fire, according to the National Weather Service.

“It looks grim,” Magnolia Shin said around noon Tuesday, about an hour after she left her house on Piedra Morada Drive. “I just left. I just took my purse and drove away.”

The upscale Palisades community is a secluded neighborhood retreat for the rich and powerful, including many celebrities. But that seclusion also carries risks when emergencies occur.

George Hutchinson stood on his apartment’s rooftop on Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon watching the fire after rushing home from his hair salon.

He lives in the evacuation zone and his car is packed and ready, but because the traffic was bumper-to-bumper, he decided to wait it out.

“It looks horrible,” he said. “You can keep seeing houses burn.”