At least five people are dead and many more injured as several fires broke out across Southern California amid historically dry and windy conditions.

At least two people were killed and tens of thousands were forced to evacuate as multiple wildfires devastated the Los Angeles area and stretched the region’s firefighting resources to its limits. A wind-fueled fire has raced through the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood and others sparked and quickly spread around Los Angeles County.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters battled to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area early Thursday that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

The massive fires that have destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and demolished thousands of homes and structures in Los Angeles County threaten an effort to fix California's troubled home insurance market.

Firefighters are making progress slowing the major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and caused thousands of people to