Editor’s note: This story was originally published December 5. It has been updated throughout with the most recent information.
Hundreds of Valley residents awoke before sunrise Tuesday to orders to flee. A fast-moving and wind-driven wildfire fire was racing through the foothills of Angeles National Forest and toward their homes.
That fire, now dubbed the Creek Fire, has ballooned to more than 12,000 acres. It has wrecked dozen of homes from Sylmar to Sunland-Tujunga to Shadow Hills and forced as many as 150,000 people to find shelter.
The numbers are heartbreaking. So are the images. Residents are sharing photos of flames licking dangerously close to their homes. Reporters are on the scene, capturing the smoldering rubble.
The images and videos showcase how scary living close to wilderness areas in LA can be, especially when the Santa Ana winds are blowing. Those dry, powerful winds, so often romanticized, not only fan wildfires but scatter embers, turning homes into matchboxes.
Below are harrowing photos posted to Instagram and Twitter of the Creek Fire.