(Image source from: Mathrubhumi English)

Two fast-moving wildfires that exploded in the Southern California hills have claimed nine lives and enforced thousands to flee their homes, plus the whole city of Malibu, a sprawling naval base and many Hollywood celebrity homes.

Spread-out by fierce Santa Ana winds and fueled by dry tinder, the fires immolated a mountain town and jangled the nerves of galore tens of thousands of residents forced to empty their homes.

Among the celebrity homes reportedly damaged was the home of Caitlyn Jenner, who posted an Instagram video reporting that she was in a safe house, but was not certain what has become of her home.

The blazes up to now have proved to be unstoppable, operating at flash-flood velocity. The big wildfire here in Southern California, known as the "Woolsey Fire", quadrupled in size by Friday evening, covering over 22 square miles, with no containment. It easily jumped eight-lane Highway 101 and rambled over the Santa Monica Mountains to posh Malibu, where it torched homes and cars. The wildfire then eventually ran into its only match so far: the Pacific Ocean, the Washington Post reported.

The report from the northern part of the state was even worsened. About nine people died in or close to their homes or vehicles as they tried to outrace the "Camp Fire" that begun Thursday morning, has ruined the mountain town of Paradise, around 90 miles north of the state capital, Sacramento.

Other celebrities in southern California who have reported on social media that they were evacuated from their abodes due to the fast-moving wildfires include Kim Kardashian West, her sister Kourtney Kardashian, Lady Gaga, and Mark Hammill.

Among the properties destroyed by the Woolsey Fire was the Paramount Ranch in Agoura, where hundreds of movies and television shows, including HBO's "Westworld", have been recorded, stretching back to the 1920s. The freeway was blocked in both directions near the Liberty Canyon Road exit due to "very active fire conditions", authorities said.

The California fire season usually begins in late spring and lasts through summer. But hot, dry weather has continued this year well into fall, and the winter rains have thus far to arrive.

The Santa Ana winds, which blow out of the Sierra Nevadas and toward the western coastline, are building into terrific gales that dry the vegetation and the soil, creating perhaps explosive fire conditions.

-Sowmya Sangam