LA residents rushing to flee wildfires this week faced choke points, gridlock and the tough decision of whether to abandon their cars to the fire.

Firefighters battled Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed seven people, burned at least 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

The massive fires that have destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and demolished thousands of homes and structures in Los Angeles County threaten an effort to fix California's troubled home insurance market.