Toasted Coast

ROARING WILDFIRES ripped through Southern California on Tuesday, forcing more than 27,000 people from their homes as powerful winds threatened to fuel more damage.

The blaze in Ventura County covered 70 square miles by 8 a.m. Tuesday and continued to grow exponentially, Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said.

The fire, which broke out Monday night 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, scorched at least 150 buildings, including a psychiatric hospital, as it marched Ventura.

Clouds of dark smoke blanketed the area, drifting across the San Fernando Valley and the beachfront communities of Malibu and Santa Monica.

“All you see is chimneys,” Ventura resident Jim McConica told ABC News after his house burned. “That’s all there are (left). It’s just devastating.”

The longtime Ventura resident said he and his wife were able to get a few prized possessions out before fleeing their block, where every house was gutted.

Officials are worried the fires toward the city of will continue to grow because of the region’s mighty Santa Ana winds, which can reach 80 mph.

The winds have propelled the fire to burn at a merciless acre per second, CNN reported.

The Ventura blaze already scorched 50,000 acres over a 13-hour period, fire officials said as more than 1,000 firefighters tried to contain it.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Ventura County.

Just outside of Los Angeles, a second fire grew to 6 square miles by Tuesday morning.

Over 1,000 emergency personnel were dispatched throughout Los Angeles County to battle the blaze, which forced the evacuation of 2,500 homes.

Additionally, a third fire covering 25 acres broke out in San Bernardino. The county fire department there said firefighters were assigned to protect buildings, and ambulances had been requested for three people who suffered burns.

HBO on Tuesday said it had stopped filming on its sci-fi drama “Westworld” because of the fires. CBS also suspended its show “S.W.A.T.”

The NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, who hold workouts near the fires, canceled Wednesday’s practice.

Wildfire consumes a home (right) and an apartment complex (above) Tuesday in Ventura, Calif., where flames were propelled by the Santa Ana winds.