Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 80 kilometres per hour and gusts in the mountains reaching 113 kilometres per hour. The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson.
"You're going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there," Thompson said at a community meeting Saturday night.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help crews fend off flames spread by renewed gusts.
Fierce Santa Anas have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that levelled entire neighbourhoods around the city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Luna added that "dozens" more reports might have come in Sunday morning and investigators were reconciling whether some of the missing might be among the dead.
Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 24 over the weekend. Eight of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said in a statement Sunday evening.
Officials said they expected that figure to increase as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches in levelled neighbourhoods. Authorities have established a centre where people can report the missing.
Officials also were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed. In the meantime, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighbourhoods.
"There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public," Crowley said at a Sunday briefing.
Officials warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.
About 1,50,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters, Luna said. Officials said most of those orders were unlikely to be lifted before the red flag warnings expire Wednesday evening.
"Please rest assured that first thing Thursday we will begin talking about repopulation," Marrone said.
By Sunday morning, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed more than 160 square kilometres, an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades Fire was 11 per cent contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27 per cent. Those two blazes accounted for nearly 153 square kilometres.
Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes 1,354 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico.
Minimal growth was expected Sunday for the Eaton Fire "with continued smouldering and creeping" of flames, an LA County Fire Department incident report said. Most evacuation orders for the area have been lifted.
After a fierce battle Saturday, firefighters managed to fight back flames in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities near Pacific Palisades not far from the coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.
The fires that began Tuesday just north of downtown LA have burned more than 12,000 structures.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Governor Gavin Newsom said the fires could end up being the worst natural disaster in US history.
"I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope," he said.
Along with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California's prison system were also helping firefighting efforts. Nearly 950 incarcerated firefighters were dispatched "to cut fire lines and remove fuel to slow fire spread", according to an update from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Newsom issued an executive order Sunday aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of destroyed property by suspending some environmental regulations and ensuring that property tax assessments are not increased.
The White House said as of Sunday more than 24,000 people have registered for federal assistance made available by President Joe Biden's major disaster declaration last Wednesday.
LA Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that she has spoken with members of the incoming presidential administration and said she expects Donald Trump will come visit the devastated region.