Los Angeles fires burn 10,000 structures as new blaze spreads

Two wildfires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned some 10,000 homes and structures, local officials said, as a new blaze prompted the evacuation of thousands of more residents.

The latest blaze, the Kenneth fire, broke out in West Hills, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, on Thursday afternoon as fire crews were still battling to bring the Palisades and Eaton fires under control.

“We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.

At least 10 deaths had been reported as of 9pm local time (05:00 GMT on Friday), up from seven earlier in the day, according to the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner.

The latest evacuation orders came as officials confirmed that the Palisades and Eaton fires had each destroyed more than 5,000 structures, which includes homes as well as other property such as cars and sheds.

The two fires have consumed more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of land between them, according to the state wildfire agency Cal Fire. Three smaller fires are also burning in and around Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna earlier told a news conference that he expected the then-reported death toll of seven to rise.

“It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers,” Luna said.

Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders due to the fire, with another 200,000 residents subject to evacuation warnings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

More than 285,000 residents are without electricity in Southern California, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, while water and sewage infrastructure across the area has suffered extensive damage.

Dozens of blocks have been reduced to ash in the affluent communities of Malibu and Pacific Palisades since the start of the fires on Tuesday amid winds of more than 112km/hr (70mph).

The National Weather Service had warned that winds are expected to pick up on Thursday evening after dropping earlier in the day.

Celebrities including James Woods, Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are among those who have lost their homes in the fires.

“There are areas where everything is gone, there isn’t even a stick of wood left, it’s just dirt,” said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.

Reporting from Pacific Palisades, Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds said the extent of the destruction was “hard to fathom”.

“The hillsides are burned. There’s a high school … that has been heavily damaged. You can see houses where there’s nothing left but the chimney remaining,” he said.

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