Firefighters make progress slowing wildfires while Los Angeles grapples with scope of devastation

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Firefighters began to slow the spread of deadly and devastating fires in the Los Angeles area Thursday after the ferocious winds that drove the fast-moving flames diminished, but the largest blazes still burned out of control.

Crews were able to knock down a major threat that broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, close to the heart of the entertainment industry, and by morning had lifted an evacuation order for the area.

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"While we are still facing significant threats, I am hopeful that the tide is turning," LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said during a news conference Thursday morning.

Water dropped from aircraft helped fire crews quickly seize control of the fires in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City, LA Mayor Karen Bass said. Much of the widespread destruction around the city occurred after those aircraft were grounded due to high winds.

Major wind gusts still posed a danger Thursday, but the weather forecast could provide an opportunity for firefighters to make progress in reining in blazes that have killed at least five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and caused thousands of people to frantically flee their homes.

Flare-ups overnight illuminated the Santa Monica Mountains above Pacific Palisades.

The toll from the fires is still being calculated. LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said the Palisades Fire along the coast burned thousands of structures. "It is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," she said.

The number of dead also is expected to rise now that cadaver dogs and search crew are beginning to search the rubble, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Flames from the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills put densely populated neighbourhoods on edge Wednesday night. Only a mile away, the streets around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were bustling, and onlookers used their phones to record video of the blazing hills.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said firefighters were able to keep the blaze in check because "we hit it hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us today."

Wind fuels the fires

On Wednesday, hurricane-force winds with gusts up to 80 mph (129 kph) blew embers, igniting block after block in the coastal neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades and in Altadena, a community near Pasadena.

Thousands of homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes -- called the Palisades and Eaton fires -- and the number is expected to increase. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

While those two fires were no longer spreading significantly, both remained at 0% containment, officials said.

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In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said Wednesday that the city's water system was stretched and further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fast-moving blaze.

"Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire," he said.

Still, questions were being raised about why some hydrants ran dry and what caused the water system to buckle when it was needed most.

180,000 people are ordered to evacuate

In Pacific Palisades, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes, block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house.

Roughly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 45 square miles (117 square kilometres) -- roughly the size of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles' history.

Jose Velasquez sprayed his family's Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business selling pastries. Many of his neighbours were at work as fire spread through their homes.

"So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing," he said. "We had to tell them that it's not."

About 250 homes in Altadena that had been dotted with green leafy trees were reduced to rubble. Only a few homes remained, some still in flames according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies. Just a handful of 70 wall-to-wall homes overhanging the Pacific Ocean in Malibu appeared intact.

Actors lost homes

The flames tore through affluent neighbourhoods home to California's rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton were among the stars who lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

Jamie Lee Curtis pledged $1 million to start a "fund of support" for those affected by the wildfires.

In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

"It's just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn't really exist anymore," said Dylan Vincent, who said his elementary school had burned down.

Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park.

A longer fire season

The main fires grew rapidly in different areas that had two things in common: densely packed homes in places that are choked with dry vegetation that was primed to burn.

Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape, some abandoning their vehicles and setting out on foot. Police sought shelter inside their cars.

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California's wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimetres) of rain since early May. 

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Golden reported from Seattle and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed.