Evacuation orders across the Los Angeles area cover 153,000 residents, with 57,000 structures at risk.
Firefighters are racing to contain wildfires around Los Angeles before strong winds return, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.
A major effort was underway Saturday in the upscale Los Angeles area of the Pacific Palisades, after the wildfire spread to additional areas overnight.
Residents were warned about weather that could be worse in the coming days that could further extinguish the fire.
Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins told reporters at a press conference that the Palisades Fire had spread into the Mandeville Canyon area and threatened to jump into Brentwood, an upscale neighborhood.
Cal Fire Operations Chief Christian Litz said Saturday's main focus will be on the Palisades fire in the canyon area, near the UCLA campus.
“We have to be aggressive out there,” Litz said.
Meanwhile, evacuation orders across the Los Angeles area now cover 153,000 residents, with 57,000 structures at risk.
Another 166,000 residents were warned they may have to evacuate, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Luna said his agency has dispatched 40 search and rescue team members to work with other agencies, including using cadaver dogs to find victims' remains and reunite separated families. -meeting.
At least 11 were killed
Six simultaneous fires that have ripped through Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures — a term that includes homes, buildings apartments, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles.
At least 13 people are believed to be missing so far. The death toll is expected to rise when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.
The ferocious Santa Ana winds that ignited the infernos subsided Friday night. But the Palisades fire on the western edge of the city was going in a new direction when winds came from the Pacific Ocean and threatened the mountains of San Fernando Valley.
The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has destroyed entire communities to the ground, leaving only the smoldering ruins of homes and belongings that people had owned.
Before the last flare-up, firefighters had reported progress in containing the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the eastern foothills of the city after it got out of control for days.
On Saturday, the Palisades fire was 11 percent contained and the Eaton Fire in the east was 15 percent contained, the state agency Cal Fire said.
The two large fires together had consumed more than 36,000 acres (14,500 hectares), or 56 square miles (145.6 km2) – 2.5 times the land area of Manhattan.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have brought aid to California, bolstering air crews dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming mountains and ground crews fighting on fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
Wind expected to slow
The National Weather Service said conditions in the Los Angeles area will improve through the weekend, with sustained winds gusting to about 20 mph (32 km/h), gusts between 35 mph and 50 mph (56-80-km/h).
“It's not that crazy, so it should help firefighters,” said NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli, adding that conditions remained critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.
Officials have declared a public health emergency because of the thick, toxic smoke.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135bn to $150bn, pointing to a tough recovery and rising homeowner insurance costs.
President Joe Biden has declared the fires a major disaster and said the US government would provide 100 percent of the recovery for the next six months.
