Four wildfires are currently burning around Los Angeles, with two others now described as being contained
The largest of them is spreading east and now threatens the wealthy neighbourhood of Brentwood - where new evacuation orders have been issued
At least 11 people have been killed so far and 13 others are missing
The disaster has also led to more than 12,000 homes and other structures being destroyed since Tuesday
Senior officials, including the mayor and fire chief, have defended their preparations and response to the fires
A forecast for more strong winds, predicted to last until Wednesday, has raised fears the blazes could spread further
Plane drops fire retardant over Los Angeles fires
The Palisades Fire, currently burning between Santa Monica and Malibu, has so far scorched over 20,000 acres as of Thursday evening.
This is equal to an area extending from Battersea Park in south-west London to London City Airport, or from Jersey City to Forest Hill in New York.
Actor Milo Ventimiglia and his pregnant wife, Jarah, have lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires, as nearly 180,000 residents are evacuated across the county.
The Heroes and This Is Us actor told the BBC's US partner, CBS: "We'll make do. Wife and baby and dog are most important."
This Is Us actor Milo Ventimiglia loses home in fires
If you're just joining us, here's the latest on the Los Angeles wildfires:
As the fires continue to spread and leave destruction in their wake, the extent of the damage across west Los Angeles from the wildfires has been laid bare in these photographs.
Particularly striking is the damage in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas – where the initial wildfires broke out – after three days of ongoing blazes.
Image source, Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesAerial views reveal significant damage to the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, where the fires first started on Tuesday
Image source, Getty ImagesFires in the largely upscale areas of west LA also raise safety concerns for those without a fixed address
Image source, MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesFirefighters have had to tackle continuing blazes raging for a third consecutive day across the area, while burnings still smoulder in Malibu
Image source, MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesMalibu's stretch of ordinarily plush-looking coastline has been significantly impacted, with many oceanside properties completely burnt out
As we've been reporting, there are currently five wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area. Here's a reminder of the current status of each:
Palisades: The largest and first to break out on Tuesday. It's burning through nearly 20,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades, destroying more than 5,300 structures. It's now 6% contained.
Eaton: Spanning nearly 14,000 acres in Altadena and Pasadena, it's the only fire in the area to remain 0% contained.
Kenneth: The newest of the five fires, impacting about 960 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. It's now 35% contained.
Hurst: Fire officials are making some progress with the fire, which spans nearly 800 acres. It is contained by 37%.
Lidia: Nearly 400 acres are affected in the town of Acton. Fire officials have contained 75% of the fire.
Some of the previously identified blazes, including the Sunset fire - which appeared to be threatening the iconic Hollywood sign - have been 100% contained.
You can also take a look at our map explainer, while context of what it means when a wildfire is contained is available here.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Malibu area has suffered severe infrastructure damage due to the still-raging Palisades Fire, with charred ruins now lining the seaside town's once-coveted beachfront.
While many properties have been burned to the ground, aerial shots of the waterfront show a single three-floor house still standing, as white smoke continues to billow from burned-down homes beside it.
Image source, Getty ImagesThis is all that remains of Teddy Leonard's restaurant, The Reel Inn, which she ran for 36 years in Malibu
Teddy Leonard has been running The Reel Inn, a popular seafood restaurant in Malibu, for 36 years, but suddenly the business has been flattened by fire.
"Our business burned to the ground," she tells BBC's Business Matters programme.
Staff were still inside when firefighters rushed in, Leonard says.
"Our manager says she got to the end of the car park, turned around, and the flames were engulfing the back of the building – it went so fast."
In the 1990s, the restaurant was also threatened by fires but was saved. This time, though, it wasn’t so lucky.
Still, Leonard has faith in the city.
"Malibu will always be rebuilt," she says. "If you've been there, you've seen how beautiful that coastline is and what a treasure it is. We've all had these fires... these are the things that we deal with that are the price for living in paradise."
Image source, Getty ImagesThe burned sign of The Reel Inn restaurant in Malibu
The Eaton wildfire has ripped through Altadena, leaving devastation in its wake.
We've just received these photos showing the extent of the damage - strikingly, the chimneys are the only structures still standing:
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, ReutersA little earlier, Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley warned that high winds would continue to make firefighting efforts difficult overnight.
"We are not out of danger," Crowley told the press during a briefing. "You can see the active fires that are burning with strong winds that are going to continue throughout the night."
"I can tell you and assure you that firefighters and first responders remain focused on protecting lives and property. We urge the public to help us."
As a reminder, there are currently five fires still actively burning in the Los Angeles area.
We've been hearing devastating stories of Los Angeles residents losing their homes and everything they own, while thousands others have been forced to evacuate in case the fires spread further.
Some of these, as yet undamaged, homes have come under a different threat in the form of looting.
So far police have arrested about 20 people for raiding abandoned buildings and a curfew was put in place overnight by authorities.
In a press conference yesterday, LA County Sherriff Roger Luna described looting as "unacceptable behaviour" and said having soldiers to "augment those resources will help send a stronger message".
Earlier, Luna said his office had officially requested support from the California National Guard and there were 400 troops ready to help with the response to the fires.
LA Mayor Karen Bass also said yesterday that the National Guard would take on non-emergency roles to keep burn areas secure and there would "be zero tolerance" for anybody who "would dare to enter houses or loot property".
Image source, EPALA Mayor Karen Bass, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, second on right, are briefed about the fires in the neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock"When I first saw the news, I was in complete shock - I couldn't process it," says Paris Hilton, who has returned to her home in Malibu after watching it burn down on live television.
"But now, standing and seeing it with my own eyes, it feels like my heart has shattered into a million pieces," she writes in a post on Instagram.
Sharing footage of the charred aftermath of the house, the 43-year-old says it wasn't just a place to live, but was "where we dreamed, laughed, and created the most beautiful memories as a family".
"To see it reduced to ashes... it's devastating beyond words."
She adds that, despite the pain, she knew she was "incredibly lucky" she and her family were safe, and "this isn't just my story. So many people have lost everything."
Hilton shared a video on Instagram of the remains of her home
Image source, Getty Images"There's really nothing left, everything is gone," Los Angeles resident Richard Weintraub says while describing the scenes in the city this morning.
Speaking to our colleagues over on BBC World Service's Newsday programme, he says everything seems to have turned into ash.
Richard adds the area he lives in has a wide range of wildlife likely impacted by the flames, along with the huge number of residents who have lost their homes.
"There is thick smoke in the air, dead animals everywhere in the mountains."
BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt has been comparing before and after images of buildings in Los Angeles, which show structures completely destroyed by the fires in the region.
You can see those images in the video below:
Helen Willetts
BBC Weather
A red flag warning - which means critical fire conditions - remains in place into Friday across Los Angeles and Southern California.
This is due to strong Santa Ana winds, together with very low humidity and temperatures a few degrees above average. Plus, southern California is in severe drought at the moment, having had little rain so far this winter.
But it’s a constantly changing situation and these warnings are being frequently updated by the US National Weather Service, external, where you can keep up to date.
The winds are now strengthening again in the area. The strongest are expected across the mountains and through the valleys with damaging gusts reaching up to 75mph (121km/h). More generally, there will be moderate to strong gusty winds, with gusts around 40 to 50mph.
This means it is an extremely dangerous situation as, with such dry vegetation and the gustiness of the winds, fires can develop and spread rapidly.
The winds are forecast to ease a little through Friday afternoon, but there’ll still be a moderate breeze gusting to 40mph. There’s no sign of any rain, so conditions remain dangerous throughout Friday afternoon and evening.
Warnings remain into Saturday despite some easing of the wind.
However, the winds are expected to strengthen again on Sunday and early next week, with no rain in the forecast.
Image source, ReutersThousands of buildings have been been destroyed by the Eaton Fire such as this one in Pasadena
A resident in Pasadena - where the second-biggest wildfire (Eaton) is still 0% contained - has just been describing the chaos in his hometown to our colleagues at BBC Radio 5 Live.
"There's a lack of manpower on the ground, a noticeable lack of fire department personnel," says Raffi Bilemjian. "No-one really knows what's going on...it's pretty dire."
He says his family are safe and they were able to house evacuees.
The fire started to move into north Pasadena in the last two days, Raffi says, but is now moving west into more forested, empty areas.
"Pasadena seems to have escaped the brunt, but the city above Pasadena, which is called Altadena, has been completely devastated," he says, adding it's an "overwhelmingly working class part" of LA.
He also criticised an evacuation alert that was mistakenly sent out to the whole county, which caused panic among residents.
"It's really extremely chaotic... I don't know what the next few days or the next couple of weeks are going to hold."
About 100,000 homes and businesses are without power in Los Angeles, according to a site that tracks blackouts in the US.
The latest estimates from Poweroutages.us, external show that in LA county, about 59,800 customers of the LA Department of Water & Power are without power, while about 38,500 customers of the provider Southern California Edison (SCE) have no electricity.
In Ventura county, which borders LA and is where the Kenneth Fire is burning, about 20,000 SCE customers are without power.
Lynwen Hughes-Boatman was told to leave her home in Altadena on Tuesday evening as wildfires swept down from the hills above her neighbourhood.
"I looked out my upstairs bathroom window looking east and the sky was just crimson," she tells Radio Wales Breakfast earlier this morning.
"So I grabbed my passport and my green card and a few other things and I just fled."
"It happened so quickly. The winds were ferocious, I mean I've never seen winds like that at all and I just knew that a lot of properties were going to burn."
"The embers were flying everywhere. The palm trees were on fire."
The mother-of-one says she still has not been able to go back to her house but she knows that it is still standing thanks to videos taken by a neighbour.
"Two thirds of my street and almost the entire neighbourhood is burnt."
Lynwen - who moved to the US from Caerphilly, Wales in 1985 - says the city centre in Altadena is "gone" and the primary school her now-adult daughter went to is burnt to the ground.
"The shops… the post office, it's all gone."
Returning to the street where Lynwen lived
James Kelly
BBC News
Image source, Harlan BollHarlan Boll's Altadena home was destroyed by the fires
Publicist Harlan Boll lost his home and beloved pet cat to the Eaton Fire, which has burned nearly 14,000 acres in Los Angeles.
Boll, who has represented a number of Hollywood stars during his 35-year career, fled the suburb of Altadena, where he lived with his partner, before it was too late.
But his beautiful 100-year-old home has been reduced to rubble and ashes, he tells me.
Boll says he managed to secure some important items before leaving, but his cat "freaked out and ran back into the house and we couldn’t find him in the dark".
Many people in the area have "lost their entire family histories and were literally left with the shirt off their back", he adds.
Image source, Harlan BollThe house before it was destroyed
“We’ve seen fires on the hills before so initially we weren’t overly concerned.
"We thought we’re fine and hopped in the car to Pasadena. When we headed back the hill next to our house had stated burning."
Boll also tells me that his neighbourhood has been decimated.
“There’s always a little part of me that thinks we’ll be fine, but in retrospect I’m glad I panicked.”
These satellite images of the residential areas in the Palisades show how destructive the fire has been in the last 48 hours.
One photo shows the area close to the well-known Palisades Charter High School - which counts celebrities including Will.i.am and Forest Whitaker among its alumni and has itself been a Hollywood filming location. It has sustained significant damage in the blaze.
In the second, we can see houses have burnt down in the Summit Residence, along with two separate fires still burning in the residential area.
Our colleagues have put satellite pictures of the same areas from before the fires for comparison below:
Image source, Getty ImagesActor and director Mel Gibson says his home of over a decade burned down in Los Angeles while he was recording a podcast interview with Joe Rogan.
In a later interview with NewsNation, Gibson says he returned to find his home "completely toasted".
The loss is "emotional" and "devastating", he says, but adds that his family are "happy and healthy and out of harm's way".
Gibson also expressed frustration at the city's response to the wildfires.