LOS ANGELES — The 17,000-acre wildfire that has leveled much of Pacific Palisades appeared to turn deadly Thursday with the discovery of human remains in the ruins of a home along Pacific Coast Highway, while crews continued efforts to establish a containment line around the blaze.

Sheriff's deputies and representatives of the county Medical Examiner's Office were stationed Thursday outside the rubble of the home in the vicinity of Duke's restaurant in Malibu. Officials from the sheriff's department told reporters at the scene that deputies received a missing person report, prompting them to conduct a welfare check at the burned-out home, where the remains were discovered.

No other details were immediately available.

Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna declined to give any specific updates on deaths that have occurred in the various fires burning in the region. He previously announced five deaths tied to the Eaton Fire burning near Altadena and Pasadena, but said he wanted to verify details about other possible fatalities before releasing additional information.

The Palisades Fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Piedra Morada and Monte Hermoso drives, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz. It continued to grow exponentially Tuesday and Wednesday thanks to heavy fuel loads and powerful Santa Ana winds.

By 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was mapped at 17,234 acres, with 0% containment, according to Cal Fire.

In a media briefing alongside city and county officials, police and fire chiefs Thursday morning, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said the number of structures damaged or destroyed by the blaze is believed to be "in the thousands."

"It is safe to say the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," Crowley said.

Video from the fire zone painted pictures of total devastation, with flames jumping from home to home, structure to structure throughout the Palisades area. Damage estimates were still being compiled, but county Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday morning at least 1,000 buildings had been lost.

The cause of the fire was unknown. It erupted amid fierce Santa Ana winds that forecasters called the worst windstorm in the Southland in a decade. The peak gusts of the wind event slammed the fire area between 10 p.m. Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, though red flag warnings of critical fire danger were expected to be in place until Friday evening.

Air tankers and water-dropping helicopters made drops throughout daylight hours Tuesday as firefighters from across the region rushed to the scene, but they were all grounded at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday due to escalating winds. Some aircraft returned to the firefight on Wednesday.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued across a wide area generally stretching from Kenter Avenue on the east, Mulholland Road on the north, Topanga Canyon Boulevard on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the south.

Marrone said there were a "high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate, in addition to first responders who were on the fire lines."

With the fire expanding to the east, the city of Santa Monica issued a mandatory evacuation order for all residents north of Montana Avenue from the ocean to 11th Street, and north of San Vicente Boulevard between Ocean Boulevard and 26th Street. An evacuation warning was issued for all other residents north of Montana.

The city of Malibu also issued evacuation orders for the areas:

• north of PCH, south of Rambla Pacifio Street, east of Carbon Beach Terrace and west of Las Flores Mesa Drive
• north of PCH, south of Budwood Matway, east of Las Flores Mesa Drive and west of Old Malibu Road
• north of Rambla Pacifico Street, south of Pauma Road, Las Flores Canyon Road and Rambla Pacifico, east of Carbon Canyon Road and west of Gorge Road

Other areas in Malibu were placed under evacuation warnings.

Evacuation centers were established at the Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Pasadena Convention Center at 300 E. Green St. in Pasadena, and at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills.

Large animals can be taken to Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Ave., or the Los Angeles Equestrian Center at 480 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Small animals can be taken to the Agoura Animal Care Center at 29525 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills and Pasadena Humane Society at 361 S. Raymond Ave in Pasadena.

Evacuees were initially instructed to travel south on Palisades Drive to westbound Sunset Boulevard then to southbound PCH. However, the evacuation routes quickly filled with vehicles Tuesday afternoon, prompting some people to simply pull over near Palisades and Sunset, exit their cars and walk out of the area on foot.

LAFD officials said about 30 vehicles were abandoned at the location, and a bulldozer was used to push some of the vehicles out of the intersection to prevent them from blocking traffic in and out of the area.

Eastbound PCH was closed east of the fire area in hopes of clearing the roadway. The westbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway was closed at Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica, along with north/westbound PCH to help clear the roadway and assist people trying to evacuate the roadway. The closures effectively blocked all of PCH between the Santa Monica Freeway and Topanga Canyon.

Sunset Boulevard was also closed west of Mandeville Canyon Road.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger signed an emergency proclamation in response to the fire, and the city of Los Angeles also issued an emergency declaration. Gov. Gavin Newsom later signed a state of emergency proclamation.

Newsom, noting that President Joe Biden was in the Los Angeles area when the fire erupted, said Biden had given immediate approval to federal funding to help cover the firefighting effort. Newsom said it only took a text message to Biden to get the funding approved.

The White House issued a statement saying Biden "has been briefed on the wildfires in Los Angeles and at his direction his team is in contact with state and local officials to offer any federal assistance as needed. In response to the governor's request, FEMA has just approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to support the impacted community and help reimburse California for firefighting costs."

Biden, who was staying in the West Los Angeles/Santa Monica area since Monday night for a since-canceled trip to Riverside County, made a joint appearance with Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station late Wednesday morning to meet with Cal Fire officials. Biden announced that military support was being made available to aid the firefighting efforts.

Mayor Karen Bass returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday morning from Ghana, where she was part of the four-member presidential delegation attending Tuesday's inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as president.

Bass attended a briefing on the fire with Newsom, Crowley and Sen. Alex Padilla. Earlier, the mayor urged residents to stay inside Wednesday to limit their exposure to potentially harmful air quality.

"As Angelenos start their Wednesday morning, there will be notable impacts to air quality with winds pushing smoke across the Los Angeles area," Bass said in a statement on social media. "Please limit your exposure by remaining indoors with windows and doors closed and wearing a properly fit mask."

The Los Angeles Police Department went on a citywide tactical alert in response to the fire and dangerous wind conditions. The alert allowed the department to keep officers on duty beyond their normal shifts to respond to emergencies.

On Tuesday night, LAFD Capt. Erik Scott said a 25-year-old female firefighter suffered a serious head injury and was taken to a hospital. The circumstances of the injury were unknown. Several other people were treated for burn injuries in the area of the famed Duke's restaurant along Pacific Coast Highway, Scott said. It was also unclear how those injuries occurred, or how many people were affected.

By early evening, the flames had jumped to the south side of PCH, reaching the coastline. The fire also continued spreading both east and west, jumping part of Tuna Canyon Road as it pushed toward Malibu.

Multiple structures could be seen burning in the fire zone, and there were reports of police and fire crews working to rescue people from burning buildings — but there were no immediate reports of any injuries to civilians. On at least two occasions, crews responded to homes where people were in swimming pools to escape the flames.

Video from the scene showed what appeared to be structures burning on the campus of Palisades Charter High School, which was closed this week. Theatre Palisades on Temescal Canyon Road — near the high school — was completely engulfed in flames. At least one elementary school was also believed to have burned.

Iconic eateries in the area such as the Reel Inn and Cholada Thai were also reported to have been destroyed.

The Getty Villa museum in Pacific Palisades will remain closed until at least Monday, according to a statement posted on the Getty's website. Katherine Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, issued a statement Tuesday evening saying that the staff and art collection at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades "remain safe," although "some trees and vegetation on site have burned."

The Villa, which houses a treasured collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, is normally closed to the public on Tuesdays.

"Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year," Fleming said. "Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe.

"Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site. Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds Tuesday morning. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air handling systems. The double-walled construction of the galleries also provides significant protection for the collections."

Getty officials also said their Brentwood museum near the San Diego (405) Freeway would be closed until at least Sunday "out of caution and to help alleviate traffic in the area."

SoCalGas shut off natural gas service to the Malibu community from Brentwood Country Club to Pepperdine University. As a result, about 15,000 customers in the impacted communities were experiencing temporary service outages, according to SoCalGas' Chris Gilbride.

Due to the fire and wind conditions, several Los Angeles Unified School District campuses relocated students Tuesday, and district officials said multiple schools were closed Wednesday, including Canyon Charter Elementary School, Kenter Canyon Charter Elementary School, Marquez Charter Elementary School, Palisades Charter Elementary School, and Paul Revere Charter Middle School.

Topanga Elementary Charter School students were instructed to again report on Wednesday to Woodland Hills Academy, 20800 Burbank Blvd. Students at the five closed campuses will be able to access the Continuity of Learning program for remote instruction and digital resources.

The LAUSD announced later Tuesday morning that all schools in the central and eastern part of the district — north of Manchester Boulevard/Firestone Boulevard, east of 10th Avenue, west of Interstate 710, and south of Highway 134 — that are experiencing hazardous air quality conditions would be closed Wednesday. District officials said "the situation rapidly changed overnight as the Eaton fire exploded and it is prudent that we follow the science and close schools."

Palisades Charter High School, an independent school, was not in session but was believed to have been heavily damaged by the fire.

All school campuses in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District were closed Wednesday.