Firefighters are intensifying efforts to prevent Los Angeles’ largest wildfire from spreading into one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.
Aerial teams have been dousing the flaming hills with water and fire retardant to contain the Palisades Fire, which has grown by an additional 1,000 acres and now threatens Brentwood.
Authorities are facing criticism over reports of dry hydrants that hindered initial efforts to combat the fast-moving blazes.
Winds are expected to strengthen overnight, potentially exacerbating the fires that have claimed at least 16 lives.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office confirmed on Saturday evening that 11 of the fatalities were linked to the Eaton Fire, while five were attributed to the Palisades Fire.
The National Weather Service has warned that the gusty Santa Ana winds, which initially fueled the fires, are expected to intensify on Saturday and continue into Sunday.
Support has poured in from seven neighboring states, the federal government, Canada, and Mexico to aid California in its battle against the wildfires.
“LA County had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath earlier on Saturday.
Firefighters have made modest progress against the worst of the infernos, the Palisades fire, which has scorched nearly 23,000 acres and is 11% contained.
But the conflagration has spread into the Mandeville Canyon neighbourhood, sparking evacuation orders for swathes of Brentwood, a ritzy enclave where Arnold Schwarzenegger, Disney chief executive Bob Iger and NBA star LeBron James have homes.
Also in the evacuation zone is the Getty Center, a hilltop museum that holds more than 125,000 artworks, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet and Degas. The building is undamaged so far.
Posting on X, it said the site “remains stable, aside from a hot spots” but that it was “we are acutely aware of our Getty neighbours and hope for their safety”.
The second-biggest blaze, the Eaton fire, has razed more than 14,000 acres and was 15% contained. Firefighters have mostly contained two smaller blazes, the Kenneth and Hurst fires.
No cause has yet been established for the fires. The two biggest ones combined have razed an area more than twice the size of Manhattan.
Some 153,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders and another 166,000 have been warned they may have to flee, too.
The political repercussions have begun.
On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat with rumoured White House aspirations, ordered an investigation into why a key reservoir was out of service and some fire hydrants ran dry.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley complained about the shortage.
“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” she said.
Chief Crowley has also attacked city leadership for cutting her department’s budget and eliminating mechanic positions, which she said had resulted in more than 100 fire apparatuses being out of service.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has said all of the fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades and LA’s Westside communities were “fully operational” prior to the devastating wildfires, CNN is reporting.
On Saturday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – who has been criticised for being in Ghana attending the inauguration of the African country’s president when the fires erupted in LA on Tuesday, hinted at her tensions with Chief Crowley.
“Let me be clear about something,” Bass told a news conference, “the fire chief and I are focused on fighting these fires and saving lives, and any differences that we might have will be worked out in private.”
Over 70,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the immediate resignation of the mayor.
In response to the escalating crisis, Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday that he would double the number of National Guard troops deployed, bringing the total to 1,680, in an effort to “keep communities safe.”
Authorities have reported around two dozen arrests, including charges of burglary, looting, and curfew violations.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed that cadaver dogs are assisting 40 search and rescue teams in combing through devastated neighborhoods.
The death toll is expected to climb as house-to-house searches progress.
The fires were so intense that car wheel alloys melted into puddles of liquid metal.
Rick McGeagh, a real estate agent, revealed that only six out of 60 homes in his Pacific Palisades neighborhood survived the inferno. Among the ruins of his home, the only structure left standing was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“Everything else is ash and rubble,” said the 61-year-old father-of-three.