Questions are now being taken at the news conference in Los Angeles.

A reporter from the Los Angeles Times asks if it is now time to overhaul the system in light of the changing climate and wildfires becoming more intense.

Janisse Quinones answers the question and says the system does need to be updated.

This is an "unprecedented event", the LA Department of Water and Power chief says, but she highlights how urban fires like these ones are only going to increase with climate change.

"We have to look at climate resiliency going forward."

We are still following the news conference by authorities in Los Angeles.

The head of the LA water and power department is urging people in the area to conserve water as much as possible in order to help emergency services fight the fires.

She says it's difficult fighting wild fires with an urban water system, adding that the stress on the city's water has led to quality and pressure going down. She also says a boil water notice will be issued.

Janisse Quiñones, CEO of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, says water tanks were running out of water throughout yesterday evening and into this morning.

She notes there is more water but they simply cannot fill the tanks quickly enough to keep up with demand.

The LA County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella is now addressing the region's water situation.

Water supply and access to the fire hydrants is the first thing he addresses.

"The municipal water works effectively, however, they are not designed to fight wildfires. That is known," he says. "A firefight with multiple hydrants, drawing water from the system for several hours is unsustainable."

He says this is why air support is so critical to the firefight, but because of the strong winds and low visibility they have not been able to provide that essential support.

Pestrella asks that before people leave their homes, they turn off their gas and water and "close it up tight". He adds, people should ensure there is still a way for the fire department to access your home.

President of the LA City Council, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, says some of LA's biggest attractions are closed.

They include Griffith Park, LA Zoo, the Hollywood sign and the roads nearby.

Nobody should be going to these places anyway, he says, and encourages people to stay home and leave the roads open for emergency services.

Image source, Rohit Parulkar

We're now hearing from the Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who begins by describing the sights of the past 24 hours as one of the most harrowing he's ever witnessed.

"Last night was one of the most devastating and terrifying nights that we've ever seen in any part of our city," he says.

He praised first responders for managing this dangerous and rapidly changing situation by keeping both fatalities and injuries to a minimum.

LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has said 'it is difficult to process the immensity of the destruction and loss" at a news conference in California.

Horvath also notes the importance of evacuating quickly when requested to do so. "The longer you wait to evacuate, the more you are putting people, who are putting their lives on the front line, in danger," she says.

"These orders are not just to keep you and your community safe, they are also to keep those on the front lines of this devastating crisis safe," she adds.

Speaking at the news conference in Los Angeles, the LAPD chief Jim McDonnell describes the fires "a tragic time in our history".

He says the winds last night were like "something I've never seen before" and applauds the efforts of emergency crews risking their lives in the dark to protect the city and its residents.

Two deaths, significant injuries and emergency services stretched to the limitpublished at 16:36 Greenwich Mean Time 8 January

16:36 GMT 8 January

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent, reporting from LA

The details just revealed by Los Angeles officials are chilling. Two deaths, a high number of "significant injuries" among people who did not evacuate and first responders, and emergency services stretched to the limit.

In almost 30 years living in Los Angeles, I have never witnessed such a perilous situation.

We are used to intense fires, I lived through one in 2019. But to have so many wreaking havoc at the same time, across a wide area, is unprecedented.

Thousands of families are waking up in evacuation centres not knowing whether they have a home to return to.

Critical life-saving operations are underway across the LA area but the danger is far from over with the strong winds forecast to continue until Friday.

Robert Luna, the Los Angeles county sheriff, is now providing an update on the Palisades fire, where he says 37,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation order.

Approximately 15,000 structures are at risk of burning. Without providing specifics, he says there have already been injuries and "multiple" structures lost as a result of this blaze.

As a reminder: The Palisades fire, which began almost 24 hours ago in Los Angeles, has grown to the size of 2,950 acres.

Image source, US Pool

We're still hearing from fire officials who are holding a news conference in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles county sheriff has just issued a stark warning to anyone wanting to come to the area to steal or loot from evacuated homes or businesses, noting they have already made two arrests this morning for looting.

"You're going to be caught, you're going to be arrested and you're going to be prosecuted," he says, adding: "Don't do that, stay out of these areas, they are only for emergency workers and people who live there."

The Los Angeles county sheriff is now addressing updates on the Eaton fire, which is burning close to the city of Pasadena.

Robert Luna says that authorities are "prioritising life over everything else" as he details how over 700 sheriff departments are "working round the clock" to evacuate residents.

There are evacuation orders in place for residents living in Altadena, Pasadena and surrounding regions, with 32,500 people currently under evacuation orders in the area. An additional 38,600 residents are under evacuation warnings.

Luna says this is a "rapidly" changing situation, and notes how the Altadena sheriff's station itself was evacuated today and employees were forced to clear out.

We're now hearing about school closures, from Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District Alberto Carvalho.

LA county is shutting down 100 out of 1000 schools in the area due to the fires. These schools are in the eastern area of the district and near Palisades.

Carvalho says they plan to make a decision about whether these schools will open for the rest of the week by 16:00 local time.

Carvalho also addresses reports that Palisades High School has sustained significant damage due to the fire.

He says the Los Angeles Unified School District is working with state and federal entities to quickly access resources to address the issues the community is facing.

Image source, US Pool

The Los Angeles city fire chief says that another fire that ignited near the Sylmar area of the city last night has now grown to 500 acres.

Kristin Crowley says this fire prompted the emergency evacuation of more than 3,000 people from the area.

"We want to make sure that everybody understands we're absolutely not out of danger yet," she says, noting that there are strong winds that are continuing to push through the county today.

Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is now providing an update on injuries and damage in the areas impacted by the fires. She says several firefighter and civilian injuries have been reported.

She notes that the amount of damage to property is unclear at the moment, and that they will need time to get the totality of damage in all incidents.

Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is speaking now, and began by thanking the first responders on the ground.

The fires are "stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits," she says.

They have responded to 3,624 calls to 911, Crowley adds - their average is under 1,500 calls in a 24-hour period.

Emergency services have also been deployed to another 32 structure fires in the city, she says.

Image source, US Pool

Anthony Marrone is still speaking at the news conference. He says Los Angeles will remain under a red flag weather event alert.

This was issued by the National Weather Service and is predicted to continue until Thursday evening.

"Strong winds and low humidities have placed all residents of Los Angeles county in danger," says Marrone.

The county is home to 9.66 million people and has the largest population of any county in the US.

Marrone goes on to say that 2,000 acres are currently burning due to the Eaton fire, and there is 0% containment. He adds over 100 structures have been destroyed in that fire.

Stay with us for more updates from the news conference by fire officials in Los Angeles.

Fire Chief Anthony Marrone has said over 5,000 acres have burned in the Palisades fire and adds "the fire is growing". He also said around 1,000 structures have been destroyed by that fire.

Image source, Getty Images

Two people have died and multiple people injured from the Eaton fire near the city of Pasadena, the chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told a news conference on Wednesday.

The blaze has now nearly doubled in size since it was last updated, growing to cover 2,227 acres.

Like other fires raging across southern California, 0% of it is contained. The fire department says it is having to deal with "difficult to access terrain" and extreme wind speeds.

There are 700 firefighters assigned to the fire, which local officials say continues to "dangerously burn both east and west". One firefighter has been injured while tackling the blaze.

Two people have been killed and multiple injured in the California wildfires, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone says. Some of the injuries have been "significant."