More than 100 people were evacuated and several buildings were destroyed early Saturday as a wind-driven wildfire raged out of control in the celebrity enclave of Malibu, officials and reports said.
The fire erupted in parkland above Malibu at around 3:30 am (1130 GMT) officials said, and quickly swept towards multi-million dollar homes in the Pacific Ocean-side community that is home to dozens of Hollywood celebrities.
By 7:00 am (1500 GMT) Saturday, around 400 acres had been scorched as the flames burned unchecked, Los Angeles Fire Inspector Sam Padilla told ABC7 local television news.
Footage of the fire showed several homes in the affected area burning, but exact figures of the numbers of buildings burned were not immediately available, Padilla said. "This is a wind-driven fire being blown by gusts of up to 30-40 miles per hour," Padilla said. "At the moment it will go wherever it takes us."