More than 1,000 firefighters battled a wind-driven blaze Monday that broke near the renowned Getty Center in Los Angeles, prompting widespread evacuations as the flames destroyed several homes and forced the shutdown of schools and road closures. 

Dubbed the "Getty Fire" because of its proximity to the Getty Center, the blaze ignited overnight near a major freeway and quickly spread south and west toward neighborhoods, scorching some 240 hectares and sending people fleeing in the dark. 

Authorities said some 10,000 structures were under mandatory evacuation orders with some 1,100 firefighters battling to contain the flames. 

The Getty Fire broke out as California has been dealing with several wildfires that had ignited throughout the state fed by strong winds, low humidity and high temperatures in the last week, forcing massive evacuations and power cuts.

California's governor declared a statewide emergency on Sunday as a wind-driven fire in the Sonoma wine region, north of San Francisco, spread out of control, forcing tens of thousands to flee. The fire has destroyed dozens of homes and vineyards, including the renowned 150-year-old Soda Rock Winery.

The Kincade Fire, which erupted last Wednesday and is the largest so far this year, had spread to more than 260 square kilometers by Monday morning and was only five percent contained.

Authorities said more than 3,000 firefighters and responders were battling the Kincade Fire, which is not expected to be fully contained before November 7.

Firefighters are struggling to prevent the flames from spreading west, toward the Pacific Ocean, in areas that have not experienced fires since the 1940s and where the vegetation is dense and dry, providing dangerous fuel for fires.

An estimated 180,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders, including in parts of Santa Rosa and a large swath of Sonoma County all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Nearly 80,000 structures are threatened, according to the county sheriff's office.

The National Weather Service said although the wind was expected to die down on Monday, "critical to extreme threats are likely to persist in north-central and southern California through later this week."

In a bid to reduce the risk of fire, California's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., has been turning off the power to hundreds of thousands of customers across northern and central California. 

The company has come under intense scrutiny after it emerged that one of its transmission lines may have played a role in the Kincade Fire. The same type of line was responsible for California's deadliest-ever wildfire – last year's Camp Fire, which killed 86 people.

(With input from AFP)