<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are small signs of hope for firefighters trying to save great chunks of </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/los-angeles" rel="" target="" title="Los Angeles"><span>Los Angeles</span></a><span> from a string of </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/wildfires" rel="" target="" title="wildfires"><span>wildfires</span></a><span>, including one that took just days to become the most destructive in the city's history.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As the sun peeked through a smoke-soaked sky on Thursday morning (early Friday AEDT), </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/california-wildfires" rel="" target="" title="five wildfires"><span>five wildfires</span></a><span> were still burning in and around LA, having already killed five people and sent more than 130,000 fleeing for safety.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wind gusts beyond 120km/h fanned the flames on Wednesday as fires feasted on dense brushland fed by record rain and then dried out by prolonged drought to create super-combustible conditions.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/la-fires-update-stories-of-heroism-emerge-as-los-angeles-infernos-rage/65d43b8a-1fd8-40a8-8d00-a5894eff3203"><strong><span>'I'm very grateful': Stories of heroism emerge as LA infernos rage</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was just trying to fight this fire like in a hurricane with fire all around you," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief Brent Pascua said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That winter drought showed no signs of breaking with cloudless — except for the smoke — skied forecast for days but the winds offered some relief with gusts set to drop to about 50km/h to 80km/h.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What a welcome sight," Pascua said. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/la-fires-update-california-firefighters-tackle-deadly-wildfires-as-winds-ease/5cccb724-e00d-46eb-b0e0-f2e136a6bdbf" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What this fire so desperately needed was a break in these winds so that we can actually get some containment now on this fire."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With aircraft joining the fight on Wednesday night, crews were able to make rapid progress fighting a fire on Sunset Boulevard that threatened several of Los Angeles' most iconic landmarks, including the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, allowing some evacuation orders to be lifted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We hit it hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday," Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/celebrities-among-those-who-lost-homes-as-devastating-los-angeles-fires/22adfbef-cdb2-4cbb-be91-503d22da1933"><strong><span>How celebrities and the entertainment industry have been hit by the LA fires</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/01/08/11/43/los-angeles-fires-in-pictures-wildfires-race-across-southern-california"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/cmodITYo3zJj--gPa8oHrGRxw10=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F4f4fc497-49fc-40c1-8a99-f48b94db07af" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/cmodITYo3zJj--gPa8oHrGRxw10=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F4f4fc497-49fc-40c1-8a99-f48b94db07af 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/8o6t6u5yhGGfUDGZuo60OIvEWjg=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F4f4fc497-49fc-40c1-8a99-f48b94db07af 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Heartbreaking images capture apocalyptic wake of destruction</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/01/08/11/43/los-angeles-fires-in-pictures-wildfires-race-across-southern-california">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Most destructive fire in LA history</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite this, the historic blaze in the celebrity-studded Pacific Palisades neighbourhood remained completely uncontained as it spread west along the coast to destroy beach houses in Malibu.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton have all lost their luxury homes — among more than 2000 homes, businesses and other structures already destroyed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Eaton fire in Altadena was also listed as uncontained, along with the Sunset fire in the Hollywood Hills, where steep, narrow and winding roads caused big problems as residents raced to safety and fire trucks charged towards the flames.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/la-fires-2025-what-started-it-everything-to-know-explainer/2542c14a-1c3c-476b-9beb-9db0a9d17fef"><strong><span>Why Los Angeles is experiencing its worst wildfires in winter</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Up here on the hill, the roads are just so small. There is barely any room for fire trucks," Studio City resident Brandon Jones told CNN affiliate KABC.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fires further out of LA in Lidia and Hurst had been more successfully contained and the much smaller Woodley fire completely so.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combined, the blazes had burned about 108 square kilometres — almost the size of San Francisco — by Thursday morning (Friday morning AEDT) and the Palisades wildfire was the most destructive on record.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Hundreds of homes destroyed in once-leafy neighbourhood</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The second-largest wildfire was burning in Eaton near Altadena, sandwiched between Pasadena and the Angeles National Forest on LA's northern edge.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family's home with water as embers rained down on the roof. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He managed to save their home, which also houses their family churros business.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Others weren't so lucky. Many of his neighbours were at work when they lost their homes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing," he said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We had to tell them that it's not."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A swathe of about 250 homes in an Altadena neighborhood that had been dotted with the green canopies of leafy trees and aquamarine swimming pools was reduced to rubble.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Only a few homes were left standing and some were still in flames in images from Maxar Technologies satellites.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin said his city's </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-california-climate-603512236222f82c77901db1039e959f"><span>water system was stretched</span></a><span> and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Fast-moving flames allowed little time to escape</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The main fires grew rapidly in distinctly different areas that had two things in common: densely packed streets of homes in places that are choked with vegetation and primed to burn in dry conditions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape. Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfiresafetyevacuationtipsmap-1b3bdaa19fc990bceacd60cf074eda41"><span>the race to get away</span></a><span> in Pacific Palisades, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and set out on foot.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Higher temperatures and less rain mean a longer fire season</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 2.5 millimetres of rain since early May.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fire conditions could last through Friday — but wind speeds were expected to be lower on Thursday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>- With Associated Press</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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