No letup in LA fires as damage toll soars

Wildfires continued to burn uncontained across Los Angeles County on Thursday and Friday, as the two biggest blazes killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures. Officials urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new fire ignited and quickly grew.

The Kenneth Fire started on Thursday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley. It moved into neighboring Ventura County but a large response by firefighters stopped the flames from spreading.

The Eaton Fire near Pasadena that started on Tuesday night has burned more than 5,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Firefighters were able to establish the first bit of containment on Thursday.

In Pacific Palisades, the largest of the fires burning in the LA area has destroyed over 5,300 structures and firefighters had no containment.

"The Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," said Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.

"This has the potential to be, at least collectively, the costliest wildfire disaster in American history," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a livestream on Wednesday. "Even just the Palisades Fire on its own may become so."

At least 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 140 square kilometers.

Of the 10 deaths so far, Crowley confirmed that two were in the Palisades Fire. County officials said the Eaton Fire had killed five. Cadaver dogs and crews are searching through the rubble to see if there are more victims.

President Joe Biden said during a White House briefing with staff on Thursday that he was making federal resources available and had approved more funding to help California.

The new funding will cover 100 percent of the cost for 180 days for hazardous materials removal, temporary shelters, first responder salaries and measures to protect life, he said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state has deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel. Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington are sending teams to help.

All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest, were closed on Friday because of the heavy smoke wafting over the city and ash raining down in parts.

With reports of looting, Los Angeles County ordered a nighttime curfew, and the state's National Guard was on hand to patrol affected areas.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an ocean water advisory on Thursday, "due to the unknown quantity of firefighting runoff, including potentially toxic chemicals and debris, that have entered the ocean as a result of firefighting efforts".

Agencies contributed to this story.