A pair of unusual winter wildfires in Southern California on Thursday burned several homes, spurred evacuations and closed a portion of the iconic Pacific Coast Highway.
The two fires, one near Los Angeles and the other farther south near Laguna Beach, spread amid fierce winds, along with a continued drought and weather conditions that felt more like summer than winter, furthering fears that fire has become a year-round threat in the state.
A small blaze in Whittier, just east of Los Angeles, erupted Thursday around 2:30 p.m. downhill from a suburb of large homes.
The fire destroyed two homes and damaged a third before an evacuation order could even be issued, according to fire officials and local news reports.
