Driven by punishing and unrelenting Santa Ana winds, a massive brush fire ripped through the Pacific Palisades area Tuesday, destroying or damaging an unknown number of structures and forcing thousands of people from their homes as it moved toward Malibu on the west and Santa Monica on the southeast.

Resident Nicolas Libonati said he saw a lot of abandoned cars on the road, and people running toward the coast. "It was kind of a surreal scene," he said.