UNENDING BATTLE | ‘We’re throwing everything at our disposal to protect communities in the days to come,’ says Guv Gavin Newsom

Palisades

The largest and first to break out on Tuesday. It's burning through nearly 20,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades, destroying more than 5,300 structures. It's now 6% contained

Eaton

Spanning nearly 14,000 acres in Altadena and Pasadena, it's the only fire in the area to remain 0% contained

Kenneth

The newest of the five fires, impacting about 960 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. It's now 35% contained

Hurst

Fire officials are making some progress, with 37% of the fire, which spans nearly 800 acres, now contained.

Lidia

Nearly 400 acres are affected in the town of Acton. Fire officials have contained 75% of the fire

Agencies LOS ANGELES 

The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed 10 people so far and burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, officials said,  even as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley, just 3.2 km from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees, and then moved into neighbouring Ventura County by the evening.

"We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. About 400 firefighters remained on scene overnight to guard against the fire flaring up. Firefighters made some progress in some areas, containment remained out of reach.

The crews  combed through the rubble in Los Angeles with cadaver dogs in search of additional victims from the still burning fire siege that has forced tens of thousands to flee and reduced entire neighborhoods to ash.

20 arrested for not heeding evacuation order

Around 20 people were arrested in disaster zones since the first fires broke out on Tuesday, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna said, amid reports of looting. Luna has pledged to step  up patrols and said his officers - who are soon to be backed up by California National Guard soldiers - will be proactively stopping anyone they see in an evacuation area.

“When we have an evacuation order by law, if you remain in that area, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony,” he said. “If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject to arrest.”

Curfew planned amid reports of looting

Amid reports of looting, Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said a night time curfew was planned, and the state’s National Guard was on hand to patrol affected areas. Governor Gavin Newsom said the service members were part of a thousands-strong deployment of state personnel.

“We’re throwing everything at our disposal - including our National Guard service members - to protect communities in the days to come,” he said. “And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.”

But with such a huge area scorched by the fires, some evacuees feared not enough was being done and some were taking matters into their own hands, according to a report from Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Nicholas Norman mounted an armed vigil at his home after seeing suspicious characters in the middle of the night. “I did the classic American thing: I went and got my shotgun and I sat out there, and put a light on so they knew people were there,” he told AFP.

The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damages or specifics about how many structures burned. AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its  impact , on Thursday increased its estimates of the damage and economic  loss to $135-$150 billion.