WATCH LIVE: Residents are fighting a fast-moving, terrain-driven brush fire in Pacific Palisades alongside firefighters as the brush fire comes right up to their homes. https://t.co/AHmHiA6DxD pic.twitter.com/dCf8P3ymKQ

— #NBC7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) October 21, 2019

LOS ANGELES, CA —A 40-acre brush fire is burning in the Pacific Palisades area, threatening several homes, triggering evacuations and sending smoke billowing over Sunset Boulevard.

Los Angeles fire crews are on the scene near the 500 block of North Palisades Drive in Pacific Palisades. The blaze is burning uphill and some homes may be threatened, according to the fire department. The fire broke out just after 10:30 a.m. Monday and quickly raced uphill, where several multimillion-dollar homes are perched. About 200 homes were in danger around Charmel Lane Vista Grande Drive. Broadcast footage from news helicopters showed some residents forced to flee on foot as the flames raced uphill.

As of 9 p.m., the fire had burned an estimated 40 acres and was 10% contained, and no structures had been damaged, the LAFD’s Brian Humphrey said.

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Authorities issued evacuation orders affecting 200 residents, but all evacuation orders were lifted by evening, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Officials say the order is due to both fire and smoke potential in the area, and anticipated fire-retardant drops from fixed-wing aircraft.

By 2 p.m., no structures had been damaged. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and a civilian reported mild respiratory distress, according to LAFD Assistant Chief Patrick Butler, who said both were taken to hospitals.

The fire has reached within 20 feet of some homes, and homeowners and construction workers in the area used garden hoses to try to keep the flames at bay Monday morning until fire department helicopters moved in with water drops. Super Scooper airplanes have been called in.

Even without wind, embers floating into the neighborhood from the flames below set off at least one fire in shrubs separating a pair of homes, and firefighters rushed into the area to douse the flames before any structures were damaged.

Los Angeles Police Department officers were going door to door, evacuating 200 homes in the area.

Crews in water-dropping helicopters were helping attack the flames in the difficult-to-access hillside area, LAFD Capt. Cody Weireter said at an early afternoon media briefing at a command post at LAFD Fire Station 23. Fire officials also called in a pair of fixed-wing Super Scooper aircraft.

Early Monday afternoon, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for an area between Charmel Lane and Bienveneda Avenue, from Lachman Lane on the north to Merivale Lane on the south. An evacuation center was established at the Palisades Recreation Center, 851 Alma Real Drive.

Officials said the evacuations were ordered due to both fire and smoke potential in the area.

Even without wind, embers floating into the neighborhood from the flames below set off at least one fire in shrubs separating a pair of homes, and firefighters rushed into the area to douse the flames before any structures were damaged.

Crews in water-dropping helicopters were helping attack the flames in the difficult-to-access hillside area, LAFD Capt. Cody Weireter said at an early afternoon media briefing at a command post at LAFD Fire Station 23. Fire officials also called in a pair of fixed-wing Super Scooper aircraft.

“This is an extremely challenging fire for hand crews,” Weireter said. “If you look at the firefighters, they’re essentially clawing their way up this hillside with rocks coming down on them.”

There was no immediate word on a possible cause of the fire, Weireter said. He said it was not known if the fire originated at a homeless encampment.

“We do not have a cause, and while that subject comes up a lot, I don’t have a cause for it right now,” Weireter said. “We have arson investigators on scene, looking to see what the cause and the point of origin is.”

He said the blaze started at the base of Palisades Drive and burned through about 18 acres within 15 minutes.

“The main message for the public is to kind of stay out of this area,” Weireter said. “We will have an evacuation center set up at the Palisades Recreation Center, and if you need information, we will also have a public information officer there.”

Weireter said firefighters were concerned about the forecast for high winds later this week.

“The forecast is going to be (for) increased winds by Thursday,” Weireter said. “That’s why we’re going to put a lot of resources on it to make sure this fire is wind-tested, because the winds will be coming back on Thursday.”

Both ground and air crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are battling the blaze, which is being driven more by the steep terrain than the wind.

Smoke from the fast-moving fire could be seen across Los Angeles from LAX to the San Fernando Valley. The blaze comes as Angelenos are on edge amid red flag wind warnings and extreme fire danger.

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City News Service contributed to this report.