LA fires: Troops to help firefighters and police as costly blazes kill at least 10 people

Neighbourhoods razed as destruction spreads across Los Angeles area

The Pentagon on Friday was readying hundreds of troops and military assets for deployment to Southern California to assist firefighters as they battle five blazes in and around Los Angeles County, where at least 10 people have been killed amid catastrophic destruction.

More than 600 National Guardsmen had been activated and 500 troops from the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton were preparing to assist with firefighting and recovery efforts, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.

The National Guardsmen include 200 military police for security operations and 10 helicopters for firefighting and search and rescue operations, she added. Los Angeles authorities have reported multiple lotting and burglary arrests.

The five blazes have burnt thousands of structures across a total of more than 14,500 hectares, with 8,000 hectares destroyed in the Palisades Fire alone. Crews were making progress on against two of the largest fires, with both about 10 per cent contained after several days of uncontrolled burning.

The Pacific Palisades is one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the US, home to Hollywood A-listers and multimillion-dollar mansions. The damage could make the fires California's costliest disaster.

Firefighters are racing against time as “critical” dry conditions and wind gusts are forecasted to increase today and next week. A National Weather Service bulletin said “significant fire growth” remained likely “with ongoing or new fires”.

Authorities said more than 150,000 residents in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation orders, while another 166,000 have been warned of potential evacuation.

President Joe Biden on Thursday said the federal government would cover firefighting costs for the first 180 days of the current crisis.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs “expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity” with the US over the number of victims and the destruction. The country sent its “wishes for a speedy recovery” to the injured and those affected.

A night-time curfew has been imposed in areas hit by the fires, County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

“You cannot be in these affected areas. If you are, you are subject to arrest,” he said during a press conference, in reference to concerns about looting and burglaries. “We're doing it to protect the structures, the houses that people have left because we ordered them to leave.”

The California National Guard has been deployed to help with law enforcement.

The Palisades Fire, stretching across an area larger than Manhattan and where the median home price approaches $4 million, has damaged or destroyed more than 5,000 structures.

People returned to some neighbourhoods, such as Malibu, where coveted oceanfront plots hosted skeletal frames of buildings and mansions, the rest apparently swept into the Pacific Ocean by the force of the fire.

Paris Hilton wrote that her home in Malibu where her family had “built so many precious memories” was lost.

JP Morgan doubled its forecast of insured losses to more than $20 billion. Wells Fargo also expects similar losses and said the total economic hit from the disaster could be well above $60 billion.

The total damage and economic losses – which account for uninsured destruction and indirect economic impact such as lost wages and supply-chain disruptions – is estimated at $135 billion to $150 billion, according to AccuWeather.

If that figure holds, it would rival the $148 billion cost of the 23 worst wildfires since 1980 combined, according to the US National Centres for Environmental Information.