Kelly Chase and Helena Humphrey
Reporting from Los Angeles

"That's my book," said Deisy, as she sifted through the rubble of what was her dream home, a place she said she sacrificed a lot to buy.

"This must have been on my nightstand. I read a lot of books on self-growth and empowerment. This must be a divine message for me to keep going, I believe that," she added.

The wreckage of the home is still smouldering days later.

Keith, her husband, says: "I'm looking at what's left of my kitchen."

The family has lived in this house for three years. Keith is originally from England, but has been in the US for 40 years.

Deisy and Keith are sending their two sons to family in Florida tonight while they figure out what to do. They’ve been staying in a hotel.

Deisy says it’s hard for them all to be separated, but it’s what is best.

“After a week they get homesick and start crying ‘I want to come back to California.’ But they have no home to come back to. And I wanted them to see there was no home left so they understood.”

Kelly Chase and Helena Humphrey
Reporting from Los Angeles

Image source, Deisy Suarez and Keith Giles

When Henry Giles, age six, returned to his home in Altadena with his parents, he knew exactly where to look.

The front gate and wall on the property is all that has survived untouched, with intact mail still in the letter box. Behind it, two burnt-out cars sit in the driveway, and in the back a swing set is destroyed. But tucked into some bushes was a bucket and a toy lawn mower.

"Mommy look, they survived! We hid them in the bushes because we knew there would be a fire!" Henry excitedly shouted.

Henry and his brother Lucas, four, inspected the remaining plants: "This one survived! This didn't. Our tomato plant is dead."

Few other treasures survived. Henry's family had packed light, not wanting to overload their car in case they had to sleep in it. Just a few essentials and the family dogs.

"Henry was sad. He got a new 3D printer and it was destroyed. He asked me why I didn't take it and I said because we could only grab stuff that was important. He said 'well it was important to me,'" his mother, Deisy, told the BBC.

California congresswoman Judy Chu has told the BBC there needs to be changes to the insurance system.

The rising threat of wildfires and insurance companies pulling back on offering coverage has become a crisis for homeowners throughout the state.

She says the state's insurance commissioner has announced a moratorium on non-renewals of insurance plans in wildfire areas.

She points to the non-renewals as what led residents to turn to the California FAIR plan, an insurance programme of last resort for homeowners who can't get fire coverage in the private insurance market.

But Chu says the FAIR plans costs more and cover less.

"There's some big problem-solving that has to be done on our insurance," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

Here's some more on the water shortage for fire crews that has prompted Governor Newsom to order an investigation.

Adam Van Gerpen, a captain with the Los Angeles fire department, confirms to the BBC that some fire crews ran out of water.

"I have witnessed that," he says, speaking to BBC World Service's Newshour programme from his fire truck as he and crews battled the Palisades fire.

He says crews have also run out of water at the other fires.

"If that happens then what we do is we shuttle water from other fire engines, we bring in water tankers that hold water inside them," he says, "but obviously if we have to do that it's going to hinder our fire fighting operations.

"As firefighters we expect and we depend on fire hydrants to be working and have adequate pressure," Van Gerpen adds, so "as firefighters we have to improvise, adapt and overcome".

Image source, Getty Images

California congresswoman Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents the LA suburb of Altadena, where the Eaton fire is raging, just told the BBC that local residents cannot yet return to their homes.

She points to strong winds as the root cause for why the fire spread quickly, as well as dry conditions in the area. There are more than 1,500 firefighters in her district.

"There were embers flying all over the place, even as far as two to three miles away," she says.

A total of 11 fire-related deaths have now been confirmed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

In a Friday afternoon update, the medical examiner said five of the deaths had taken place in the Palisades fire, with the other six due to the Eaton fire.

The deaths took place in Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Topanga.

Human remains have only been confirmed in three of the cases, according to the update.

No further information on the identity of the victims was provided, although the identities of some of the other victims have been disclosed through other sources.

Read about the known victims here.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has invited President-elect Donald Trump to visit California, urging him not to "politicise" the disastrous fires that have swept across Los Angeles.

In a letter published on X, Newsom asked Trump to join him and "see the devastation first hand".

"In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicise human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines," Newsom wrote.

The letter added that "hundreds of thousands of Americans - displaced from their homes and fearful for the future - deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild".

Trump, a Republican, has been fiercely critical of California Democrats' handling of the emergency.

As the maps below show, the fires are largely burning uninhabited areas but they have spread into populated areas.

Among the buildings already destroyed in the Palisades blaze are many of the exclusive properties that line the Malibu waterfront.

Image source, Reuters

As we approach mid-afternoon in LA, here's a quick roundup on the wildfires that continue to rage across the city:

• California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into water shortages for firefighters as they battled the wildfires
• LA officials have apologised after mistakenly sending a second emergency alert to residents' phones, but warned people not to disable alerts
• A curfew will take effect from 6pm to 6am local time in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton areas, with more than 200 officers on patrol following reports of looting

• Five major fires continue to burn across the city - and range from being 75% contained to just 3%, as shown in this graphic
• At least 10 people have so far been killed in the fires - while President Joe Biden is warning that the death toll is "likely" to increase
• It's estimated over 10,000 homes and other structures have been destroyed, as the BBC sees rows of homes turned to rubble in Altadena

Image source, Getty Images

Residents of Altadena and Pasadena have been warned by the senator who represents the district not to return to their properties.

California State Senator Sasha Renee Perez tells the BBC that with the Eaton Fire in the area being at just 3% containment, "this is very much still an active situation".

“This is not a safe time to be returning back to your home,” she reiterates.

With high ash levels in the air, Perez warns residents that it is not safe to drink from taps at the moment.

“We're telling folks, drink bottled water,” she says, adding that sites like Pasadena City College are handing out supplies.

As for when people might be able to return to their homes, the senator stresses that this is the “first time” her community has ever been faced with a wildfire “at this level”.

Firefighters are still battling five wildfires that have caused extensive damage across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Here's the latest on each fire's containment status:

• Palisades Fire: The largest of the five wildfires is currently 8% contained after burning down over 20,000 acres
• Eaton Fire: The wildfire burned 13,956 acres so far, with 3% of it contained
• Lidia Fire: The fire is 75% contained after damaging 395 acres
• Hurst Fire: The fire has burned through 771 acres and is 37% contained

• Kenneth Fire: Progress of the latest wildfire to break out was stopped at 1,000 acres and it is 35% contained

Image source, Getty Images

The governor of California is calling for an independent investigation to open into reports that firefighters have struggled with water supplies while tackling the wildfires.

In a post on X, Governor Gavin Newsom shares a letter he’s written to the boss of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the director of the LA County Public Works.

“Losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” he wrote.

He says that an investigation is needed into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants, and a reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez reservoir.

The governor says a "comprehensive review" is necessary “to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to fight these catastrophic fires”.

Earlier, during a briefing held to give an update on the wildfires, officials repeatedly apologised for erroneous message alerts sent to residents' phones.

A second emergency alert warning residents to prepare to evacuate was mistakenly sent out to LA residents in the early hours of Friday.

In a post on X LA county officials wrote: "We are aware of the reports of erroneous messages, and we apologise for the disruption."

They added they are working with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to investigate the cause.

Earlier at the briefing, officials urged residents to not to disable the alerts on their phones.

Christal Hayes & Max Matza
Reporting from Altadena, California

We’re back in Altadena, where national guardsmen are now helping patrol the area.

The Eaton Fire, now more than 13,000 acres but 3% contained, has devastated much of this area in northeast Los Angeles County.

Rows and rows of homes now are piles of rubble. Evidence of what used to be marks some properties: a trampoline with torn canvas in one yard, melted white picket fences surrounding a home, manicured shrubbery perfectly lining walkways - somehow untouched by the inferno that raged through here.

This community was one of those in the Los Angeles area where it doesn’t feel like you live in a big metropolitan area.

It has a small-town charm. Many here have told us they are resilient and a fire cannot not destroy the sense of community this area has built.

"I had about three minutes to react," US Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr says. "I chose my dog over the Olympic medals."

The athlete, who represented the US at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, tells the BBC how he spotted from his home in Pacific Palisades a plume of smoke, followed moments later by flames. And when he saw houses catching fire, he knew it was time to leave.

"Could I have stayed 30 seconds longer and maybe got the medals?" he wonders. "I wasn’t willing to take that risk."

He also shares his frustration with the authorities.

"Justified outrage has been the reaction of many. We pay more in taxes than probably anywhere," he says. Yet, he adds, "we have a fire department that is underfunded".

The LA Fire Department’s budget was cut by $17.6m (£14.3m) last year.

"We deserve better from the leadership," he says. "I hope there’s a deep investigation, and the leadership is held accountable."

Oliver Marques, 37, a Brit who moved to Los Angeles two years ago, saw the wildfire raging from his aeroplane window as he, his wife and his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter returned from Christmas in the UK on Tuesday.

They looked down on their community and saw “utter carnage and devastation”, he says.

“One of the most desirable areas in LA, and perhaps the world, completely gone. It’s shocking," Marques adds.

They’d bought the Palisades house six months ago and are now staying in a hotel going through the “painful” process of insurance claims.

“I don't know if it was a positive or a negative but we never got to our home. We landed in LA and there was no way to get home," he tells the BBC. "There was no chance to get anything - our cars, clothes, memories. All we had on us were the clothes on our back and what we’d packed for Christmas.

“The house looks like a bomb has gone off. It’s like it’s been nuked or carpet bombed. And it’s the whole area, not just our street."

The evacuation order recently put in place for the Archer Fire in Granada Hills has been downgraded to an evacuation warning, the Los Angeles Fire Department has announced.

The other evacuation warning, which was bordering the evacuation order, has been lifted.

A public health emergency was issued for Southern California this morning, according to Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.

In a post on X, he says his department "stands ready to support the health and well-being of all Californians impacted by these devastating fires, and to help aid the emergency medical response".

The Palisades Fire, the biggest of the five currently burning in Los Angeles, now covers more than 20,000 acres.

It began on Tuesday morning local time and, combined with strong winds, the blaze has rapidly spread across a large area of the county.

To give you a sense of just how far-reaching this devastating blaze has been, the two maps below show you the equivalent areas in New York and London.

In New York, the fire would cover the area between Journal Square in Jersey City to Forest Hill in Queens, while in London, the fire's reach would stretch from Wandsworth bridge to London City airport.

Image source, Reuters

We can bring you more on the latest brush fire that has broken out, named the Archer Fire by the LA fire department.

A mandatory evacuation order is now in place for part of O'Melveny Park - a public park in the northern San Fernando Valley - while an evacuation warning is in place for the area just below it.

A helicopter circling the area shows thick black smoke going over nearby houses.

Helicopters are now in the area, dropping water over the fire to try and control it.