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Firefighters continue to battle the raging wildfires that have killed 16 people in the Los Angeles area of California, as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week.
Although the Santa Ana winds that have fanned the flames have calmed over the weekend, the US National Weather Service (NWS) warned that stronger gusts of up to 110km/h (70mph) could return early next week.
Local officials said they expected the strongest winds to occur on Tuesday. Red flag warnings remain in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Wednesday, the NWS said.
Conditions were expected to ease by Thursday.
On Sunday, aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on steep hills to stem the eastward spread of the fire in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, and KTLA television reported that ground crews had managed to save a number of houses, although others were lost.
“LA County had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.
Six simultaneous blazes have ripped across the second-largest US city since Tuesday, killing at least 16 people.
Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement on Saturday evening.
Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said on Sunday morning.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he expected the death toll to rise.
“I’ve got search-and-rescue teams out. We’ve got cadaver dogs out and there’s likely to be a lot more,” he told NBC News.
Newsom said the fires are likely to be the worst natural disaster in US history in terms of “the scale and scope” as well as associated costs.
Active duty military personnel are ready to support the firefighting effort, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a series of Sunday television interviews, adding the agency has urged residents to begin filing for disaster relief.
“We have the funding to support this response, to support this recovery,” she told ABC News.
The blazes have damaged or destroyed 12,000 structures, fire officials said, as the flames have reduced whole neighbourhoods to smouldering ruins and left apocalyptic landscapes.
Officials reported on Saturday evening that the Palisades Fire had spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares) over the past 24 hours, consuming more homes,
Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins said that while 11 percent of the Palisades Fire was now contained, it has burned more than 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares).
Hopkins told reporters that fire had spread into the Mandeville Canyon and threatened to jump into Brentwood, an upscale neighbourhood, and the San Fernando Valley. It also inched towards the north-south 405 freeway.
Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, reporting from a helicopter above Los Angeles, said the scale of the destruction was vast.
“What you get from up here is a sense of just how much danger still lies ahead, because these flames from the Palisades fire are moving towards densely populated areas, and their direction can shift in a second,” he said.
“One minute, they are heading towards places like Brentwood. Another they are heading towards the densely populated San Fernando Valley where millions of people live.”
Evacuation orders throughout the Los Angeles area now cover 153,000 residents. Another 166,000 residents have been warned that they may have to evacuate, Sheriff Luna said.
Trump slams local officials
US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with officials to get an update on their efforts and was briefed by aides on federal resources that were being dispatched.
His declaration of a major disaster unlocked federal assistance for those affected by the wildfires, clearing the way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide support.
Support can range from funding for home repairs to money to replace lost food or medication, FEMA spokesperson Michael Hart said, adding that assistance can be provided within days.
Newsom also signed an executive order to reduce the amount of state government red tape needed to rebuild lost homes and businesses.
However, US President-elect Donald Trump criticised local and state officials he believed had handled the situation badly.
“The fires are still raging in LA. The incompetent [politicians] have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place … they just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he said on his Truth Social media feed.
Los Angeles Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger told reporters she has invited Trump – who takes office on January 20 – to visit the county to get a firsthand look at the destruction.
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