![\"LA](\"https:\/\/amebo9ja.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8954-240x300.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
LA fires: More than 10,000 homes and businesses destroyed, at least 11 dead<\/h2>\n
Two wildfires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned some 10,000 homes and structures, local officials said, as a new blaze prompted the evacuation of thousands of more residents.<\/p>\n
The latest blaze, the Kenneth fire, broke out in West Hills, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, on Thursday afternoon as fire crews were still battling to bring the Palisades and Eaton fires under control.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/amebo9ja.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dummy-ad-300x250-1.jpg\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,\u201d Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.<\/p>\n
At least 10 deaths had been reported as of 9pm local time (05:00 GMT on Friday), up from seven earlier in the day, according to the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner.<\/p>\n
The latest evacuation orders came as officials confirmed that the Palisades and Eaton fires had each destroyed more than 5,000 structures, which includes homes as well as other property such as cars and sheds.<\/p>\n
The two fires have consumed more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of land between them, according to the state wildfire agency Cal Fire. Three smaller fires are also burning in and around Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna earlier told a news conference that he expected the then-reported death toll of seven to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don\u2019t expect good news, and we\u2019re not looking forward to those numbers,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n
Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders due to the fire, with another 200,000 residents subject to evacuation warnings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n
More than 285,000 residents are without electricity in Southern California, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, while water and sewage infrastructure across the area has suffered extensive damage.<\/p>\n
Dozens of blocks have been reduced to ash in the affluent communities of Malibu and Pacific Palisades since the start of the fires on Tuesday amid winds of more than 112km\/hr (70mph).<\/p>\n
The National Weather Service had warned that winds are expected to pick up on Thursday evening after dropping earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
Celebrities including James Woods, Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are among those who have lost their homes in the fires.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are areas where everything is gone, there isn\u2019t even a stick of wood left, it\u2019s just dirt,\u201d said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Pacific Palisades, Al Jazeera\u2019s Rob Reynolds said the extent of the destruction was \u201chard to fathom\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hillsides are burned. There\u2019s a high school \u2026 that has been heavily damaged. You can see houses where there\u2019s nothing left but the chimney remaining,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes on \u2013 literally \u2013 for kilometre after kilometre, block after block after block.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorities have not determined the cause of the fires but are investigating various possible sources of ignition.<\/p>\n
While lightning is the most common cause of wildfires in the US, according to the National Fire Protection Association, there were no reports of lightning in the vicinity at the time the blazes began.<\/p>\n
Other common causes include intentionally lit fires and power lines.<\/p>\n
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state\u2019s National Guard was being deployed at the request of the LA County Sheriff\u2019s Department to assist with rescue efforts and help keep order amid reports of looting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re throwing everything at our disposal \u2013 including our National Guard service members \u2013 to protect communities in the days to come,\u201d Newsom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
US President Joe Biden, who is set to be replaced by President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, said the federal government would cover 100 percent of the cost of California\u2019s recovery efforts for the next 180 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the governor, local officials, spare no expense to do what they need to do and contain these fires,\u201d Biden said after meeting with senior advisers at the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pray to God they will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Biden urged Congress to provide aid to cover the damage once a full accounting of the devastation had been done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they\u2019re ready to step up because we can afford it,\u201d Biden said, adding that he hoped lawmakers would \u201cnot make a political deal out of this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaving this office very shortly, but it\u2019s not about the politics,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/amebo9ja.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/dummy-ad-728x90-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n