Pacific Palisades area, from Merrimac...

A fast-moving brush fire that erupted Tuesday in Los Angeles threatened homes and sent thousands of residents fleeing, prompting city and state officials to declare a state of emergency.

Meanwhile, a second rapidly spreading blaze broke out several hours later, spurring more evacuations, as dangerous winds continued to sweep Southern California late into the evening.

The Pacific Palisades fire, which had grown to nearly 3,000 acres by 6:30 p.m. local time, was first reported before 11 a.m. and quickly prompted thousands of evacuations across the region and into Malibu.

From the mountains to the coast, huge swaths of smoke and flames rose from the area as fire crews battled the wind-driven blaze. By Tuesday evening, the brush fire had jumped the Pacific Coast Highway, nearly reaching Will Rogers Beach State Park.

This is a highly dangerous windstorm that's creating extreme fire risk – and we're not out of the woods," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. "We're already seeing the destructive impacts with this fire in Pacific Palisades that grew rapidly in a matter of minutes."

Later Tuesday evening, a second brush fire in Altadena -- to the northeast of Pacific Palisades -- ignited. Fueled by the whipping winds, the Eaton fire rapidly grew from 10 acres to 400 acres in less than two hours. Several areas are under mandatory evacuation orders.

President Joe Biden, who is in Los Angeles, received two briefings regarding the rapidly spreading fires.

The president "encourages residents in the affected areas to remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials—especially if ordered to evacuate," the White House said in statement.

Overall, evacuation orders were in place for approximately 30,000 residents and more than 10,000 homes were threatened by the Palisades fire, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Later Tuesday evening, the city of Santa Monica also issued a mandatory evacuation for a strip of the city north of San Vicente Boulevard, saying there was an "immediate threat to life."

No injuries had been reported as of late Tuesday.

Scenes of destruction

KABC reported that both a high school, Pacific Palisades Charter High School, and a playhouse nearby, the Theatre Palisades, had caught fire.

Flames also crept dangerously close to the Getty Villa, a hilltop museum in Malibu with a renowned collection of art from Ancient Greece and Rome. However, administrators assured the public that the museum's collection was safe.

"Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year," Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust said in a statement. "Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe."

The museum said its galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by its state-of-the-art air-handling system and the doubled-walled construction of its galleries.