LA fires: Three fires still burning but one sign is giving a traumatised community hope

The death toll from the LA fires has climbed again and it’s feared that it is likely to grow further when it is safe for authorities to return to neighbourhoods incinerated in the flames.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said there are at least 11 deaths now linked to the fires but it could take some time before the full death toll could be confirmed.

Three major fires are still burning in Los Angeles but one thing is giving hope to exhausted firefighters and a traumatised community.

Over four days of hellish conditions, deadly fires have ravaged Los Angeles neighbourhoods on the east and west sides of the city destroying nearly 10,000 structures.

More than 150,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders and more than 20 people have been arrested for looting over the past few days.

A curfew is now in place between 6pm and 6am in the mandatory evacuation zones around the Eaton and Palisades fires.

Providing some hope of relief is that weather conditions are finally set to improve Friday local time and through the weekend to about 30km/h with gusts between 55km/h to 80km/h, according to the National Weather Service — a far cry from days ago when wind gusts blasted at upwards of 130km/h.

“It’s not as gusty so that should help firefighters, hopefully,” NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions were still critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.

The Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history, consuming more than 13,750 hectares — some 137 square kilometres or two-and-a-half times the land area of Manhattan — and turning entire neighbourhoods to ash.

The Palisades Fire is now six per cent controlled, while the Eaton Fire is still blazing out of control, according to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Some Pacific Palisades residents ventured back to areas where the fire had already swept through. Brick chimneys loomed over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles.

One rapidly growing blaze that broke out on Thursday near Calabasas, a wealthy enclave home to numerous celebrities and gated communities, was 35 per cent under control by early Friday, fire officials said. The so-called Kenneth Fire had expanded to 388 hectares in a matter of hours.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into the water pressure issues that have for days hampered firefighter’s ability to tackle the fires

“The ongoing reports of the loss of water pressure to some local fire hydrants during the fires and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are deeply troubling to me and to the community,” he wrote in a post on X.

“We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to fight these catastrophic fires.”

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed that an arson suspect was being held but would not comment on which fire was involved. Local media is reporting it is the Kenneth Fire.

Smaller fires were also putting pressure on overstretched firefighting resources. Firefighting crews managed to bring the Sunset Fire in the atop the Hollywood Hills fully under control on Thursday, after flames had engulfed a ridge overlooking Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame on Wednesday night.

Officials said the Eaton Fire had damaged or destroyed 4000 to 5000 structures while the Palisades Fire destroyed or damaged another 5300 structures, including many homes of movie stars and celebrities.

In Altadena, a racially and economically diverse community near Pasadena, many residents said they were concerned government resources would be channelled toward wealthier areas and insurance companies might short-change less affluent households who lacked the means to contest fire claims.

The catastrophic losses are already weighing on insurers, which are bracing for billions of dollars in potential claims.

Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $US135 billion ($A218 billion) to $US150 billion ($A242 billion), portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.

President Joe Biden, who will hold a briefing on the fire response later on Friday, has declared the fires a major disaster and said the federal government would reimburse 100 per cent of the recovery for the next six months.

— with AAP