Dozens of blocks of the scenic Pacific Palisades area have been flattened to smouldering rubble while in neighbouring Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
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Firefighters are hoping for a break from fierce winds fuelling massive wildfires in the Los Angeles area, with officials saying the death toll has risen to 11 and the tally of homes and other buildings destroyed stands at more than 10,000.
"Just to summarise on evacuations for all the fires that we're dealing with, evacuations orders stand at approximately 153,000 residents that are under evacuation orders," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna.
Luna also said that a curfew order is in place covering the Palisades and Eaton fire areas and that officers are patrolling the evacuation areas to prevent looting.
He said that more than 57,000 structures remain at risk.
No cause has been identified for the largest fires but the level of devastation is jarring even in a state that has grown used to massive wildfires.
Dozens of blocks of the scenic Pacific Palisades area have been flattened to smouldering rubble while in neighbouring Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
LA County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan apologised to citizens for erroneous alerts that went out about the wildfires.
"There is an extreme amount of frustration, anger, fear with regards to the erroneous messages that have been sent out through the wireless emergency Alert System across LA County. I can't express enough how sorry I am for this experience," McGowan said.
Mayor Karen Bass also said Los Angeles is getting prepared for high winds in the forecast next week.
At one point during the news conference in Los Angeles, a reporter pointed out there is a forecast for strong winds to return to the area next week and people may deactivate the alerts because of the frustration with all the false alarms.
"We know that we’re going to have a possible increase in the force of the winds at the beginning of next week and we’re getting Los Angeles prepared, doing everything we can to save lives, that is our number one job to protect people’s homes, to protect people's businesses and to prepare to rebuild Los Angeles in a much better way," she said.
The blazes started on Tuesday, powered by gusts from the Santa Ana winds which followed an exceptionally dry period.
Firefighters are currently tackling five major blazes in and around Los Angeles; Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Kenneth.
Investigations into what initially sparked the blazes are ongoing.