Morning Note

Enormous and catastrophic fires are ripping through Southern California, forcing tens of thousands to flee and firefighters to work through the night to try to contain the raging blaze.

Flames that broke out Tuesday evening in the inland foothills northeast of Los Angeles spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. Separately, a traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through, prompting officials to bring a bulldozer in to push the abandoned cars aside and create a path.

60-mile-per-hour Santa Ana winds reportedly pushed the flames on Tuesday, increasing to 70 miles an hour by early Wednesday. There is no immediate end in sight.

See the gut-wrenching photos here.