Summary
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At least five wildfires are now raging in Los Angeles and its neighbouring Ventura county – all but one are completely uncontained
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It’s utter chaos in Hollywood – streets are gridlocked and people carry whatever belongings they can under a blanket of thick smoke, our reporter Christal Hayes writes
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A fire chief tells the BBC the Hollywood Hills blaze is rapidly expanding with “zero” chance of containing it. Paris Hilton is among the A-list stars describing the heartbreak of losing their homes
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Five people are confirmed dead and more than 137,000 people have been evacuated in what has become the most destructive wildfire in LA’s history
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Firefighters are short on water and are resorting to taking water from swimming pools and ponds
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LA Mayor Karen Bass defends her absencewhen the wildfires broke out – she is also facing criticism amid reports she cut $17m from the fire department’s budget last summer
Moment house collapses as LA wildfires rage on
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Pasadena has ‘never seen a disaster like this’published at 15:09
Jennifer Colby, a response coordinator in the nearby city of Pasadena, says most in the area “have never seen a disaster like this before”.
“It’s very difficult”, she tells our colleagues at BBC Breakfast.
Colby says thousands of personnel are “working tirelessly to support the community with a priority of keeping everyone safe.”
The fire department are optimistic that favourable weather conditions over the next couple days could help bring the blazes under control, she adds.
Californian fire ecologist Chad Hanson has given me some of the main developments since I last spoke to him yesterday. He tells me the most striking aspect right now for him is seeing the scale of destruction.
“What we have seen are entire neighbourhoods which have been wiped out,” he says. “Homes gone, businesses gone.
Hanson says the “devastation is kind of hard to get your mind around. Five people have been killed – it could have been hundreds.”
Since first responders realised that conditions would prevent them from containing the fires, they focussed their efforts on evacuating residents instead.
“They did an extraordinary job.”
Hanson says there is a prediction of another Santa Ana wind event next week.
“There is no rain predicted between now and then,” he adds. “It’ll be even drier and if we have another Santa Ana event” then any remaining or new fires that could spark up.
