Firefighters aided by calmer winds saw the first signs of successfully beating back a series of deadly and devastating wildfires Thursday, though the fires still burned out of control in and around Los Angeles as the enormity of the devastation started to come into focus with haunting scenes of destruction.
Dozens of blocks were flattened to smoldering rubble in scenic Pacific Palisades. Only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remained. In Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
At least five churches, a synagogue, seven schools, two libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and groceries were lost. So too were the Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House and Topanga Ranch Motel, local landmarks dating to the 1920s. The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage or specifics about how many structures burned.
AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, estimated the overall damage could reach $57 billion.
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Images: Wildfires race across Southern California
City leaders were encouraged Thursday after firefighters made significant gains at slowing the spread of the two biggest fires that had ignited block after block from Pacific Palisades to inland Altadena, a community near Pasadena.
Crews also knocked down a blaze in the Hollywood Hills, allowing an evacuation to be lifted Thursday. The fire that sparked up late Wednesday near the heart of the entertainment industry came perilously close to igniting the famed Hollywood Bowl outdoor concert venue.
“While we are still facing significant threats, I am hopeful that the tide is turning,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Thursday.
Water dropped from aircraft helped fire crews quickly seize control of the fires in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. Much of the widespread destruction occurred Tuesday after those aircraft were grounded due to high winds.
Wind gusts were expected to strengthen Thursday evening through Friday morning, with another round of strong winds expected early next week, raising concerns that the conditions could worsen, the National Weather Service said.
But Thursday's daytime forecast provided a window for firefighters — including crews pouring in from neighboring states and Canada — to make progress in reining in blazes that have killed at least five people and caused thousands of people to flee their homes.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said firefighters were able to keep the Hollywood Hills blaze in check because “we hit it hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us.”
Fire officials said Thursday that they don’t yet know the cause of the fires but are actively investigating.
Wind fuels the fires
Earlier in the week, hurricane-force winds with gusts up to 80 mph (129 kph) blew embers, igniting the Southern California hillsides.
Thousands of homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes, known as the Palisades and Eaton fires. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said the Palisades Fire alone has burned thousands of coastal structures.
Right now, it’s impossible to quantify the extent of the destruction other than “total devastation and loss,” said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.
“There are areas where everything is gone, there isn’t even a stick of wood left, it’s just dirt,” Bruderlin said.
The five deaths recorded so far were from those two fires. Cadaver dogs and search crews are searching through rubble and the death toll is expected to rise, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son, Justin, who had cerebral palsy, were waiting for an ambulance to come, but they did not make it out, Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White, told The Washington Post.
Shari Shaw told KTLA that she tried to get her 66-year-old brother, Victor Shaw, to evacuate Tuesday night but he wanted to stay and fight the fire. Crews found his body with a garden hose in his hand.
On Thursday, recovery crews pulled a body from rubble of what was a beachfront residence in Malibu on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway. A charred washer and dryer were among the few things that remained.
While the two main fires were no longer spreading significantly, both remained at 0% containment, officials said.
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 because of the erratic wind gusts.
Still, questions have been 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 dotted with celebrity homes, block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains.
Roughly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 45 square miles (117 square kilometers) — roughly the size of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles' history.
At least 20 arrests have been made for looting, and the city of Santa Monica declared a curfew Wednesday night because of the lawlessness, officials said.
Actors lost homes
The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, 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.
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 millimeters) of rain since early May.
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; 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.
