los angeles. the flames scorched more than 100 square miles and drove tens of thousands from their homes. i just wanted to get out of the house which was left with basically the clothes on her back. to see this happen, it s crazy. the smoke was visible from space. the fuel for the fires a year in the making. with no rain in three months, the dry conditions and the santa ana winds are fueling the fires. it doesn t take a lot under these conditions to start a fire. when he put wind behind it, embers can travel miles downwind which creates another firebird 60 miles east of ventura, a people and animals fleeing the creek fire, the blaze charring more than 10,000 acres. 20 miles to the south, a brush fire created a scary morning commute down the busy 405 freeway, prompting shutdown.