The Palisades and Eaton fires are ripping through parts of Los Angeles and causing mass destruction.

Firefighters are still struggling to contain the blazes, which grew rapidly and have continued for more than 24 hours.

The fires have destroyed at least 1,000 homes. Five people are reported dead. These counts are preliminary, as the situation is still dynamic.

It's difficult to grasp the scale of these fires, but emerging photos paint a grim picture.

[A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County. Josh Edelson/AFP]

More than 70,000 people were under evacuation orders on Wednesday afternoon. Officials have warned that people in many other surrounding regions should prepare to leave their homes at a moment's notice.

Pat Durland, a wildfire-mitigation specialist and instructor for the National Fire Protection Association with 30 years of federal wildfire management experience, told Business Insider that if he lived in the area, he would leave before evacuation orders even hit his home.

"I would have left and gone to the beach or gotten a hotel," he said.

[Residents evacuate on foot from the Palisades Fire on Tuesday. Qian Weizhong/VCG/Getty Images]

so many people had to evacuate that Palisades Drive was gridlocked. Many people abandoned their cars and fled on foot.

[The area of the Palisades Fire with evacuation zones as of 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, from the California state fire agency, CalFire. CalFire]

since then, the Palisades Fire has burned through more than 15,800 acres. This was the area with evacuation zones early Wednesday afternoon.

That's where the acreage stood at 2:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Throughout the morning it was increasing hour by hour.

The most up-to-date evacuation orders and warnings are available through CalFire.

[A neighborhood ravaged by the Palisades Fire. Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo]

Photos are emerging from areas where the Palisades Fire has burned its way through.

[Multiple fires covered the Los Angeles skyline with smoke. Carlin stiehl/Reuters]

The smoke from the fires filled the Los Angeles area, darkening the skies and causing unhealthy air quality.

[The wind whips embers as the Palisades Fire burns on the west side of Los Angeles. Ringo Chiu/Reuters]

Hurricane-force winds peaked overnight and Wednesday morning, and firefighters were unable to contain the blazes.

"Despite the efforts we put in with well-trained firefighters and equipment and aircraft, the wind and the weather still are ruling these situations," Durland said of major, fast-moving fires like these.

[A firefighting plane makes a drop on the Palisades fire. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images]

Bone-dry vegetation provided abundant fire fuel due to a phenomenon called weather whiplash.

The last two winters in southern California have been quite wet, even causing flooding. That led to an explosion of grasses and shrubs, nearly twice as much as a normal season, according to the UCLA climate scientist Daniel swain.

However, this winter has been different. Months without precipitation have dried out all that vegetation, blanketing the LA hillsides with fire fuel.

To see more photos of the Los Angeles firestorms, head to Business Insider.

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