Pacific Palisades, a coastal community of about 23,000 people, was still burning from the wildfires that have swept through the city this week. The latest: At least seven people have died as intensely powerful winds fan the flames of multiple wildfires around Los Angeles.

Robert Gauthier has been with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. He was the photographer for a project detailing the failings of an L.A. public hospital that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Before The Times, Gauthier worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Escondido Times-Advocate and the Bernardo News in San Diego County, his hometown.

A brush fire broke out Tuesday near the Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, and quickly exploded.

Fierce wildfires fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds are sending residents fleeing from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke.