Journal De Bruxelles - Shocked LA residents survey fire damage, brace for more

Several blazes were still burning out of control, with zero percent containment of fires in upscale Pacific Palisade and the northern suburb of Altadena -- which have both been incinerated.

"Altadena is just devastated," said Judy Chu, the US congresswoman representing the region, who visited an evacuation center where 1,000 displaced residents sought shelter.

"They are numb. They don't know what they will return to once this fire is contained," she told local news KTLA.

Over 130,000 people across the western US metropolis remained under evacuation orders as meteorologists warned that "critical" windy and dry conditions, though abated, were not over.

"Significant fire growth remains likely with ongoing or new fires" throughout Thursday and into Friday, said a National Weather Service bulletin.

But there was some good news for Hollywood, the historic home of the movie industry.

Residents were sent scrambling Wednesday night when a fire broke out in the adjacent hills.

But evacuation orders were lifted Thursday morning, after emergency workers succeeded in dousing the so-called Sunset Fire.

"Fortunately, the Sunset Fire is under control," said Margaret Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

"We had multiple helicopters continuously dropping (water). And within an hour, a bulk of the fire had been knocked down," she said.

- Multi-million dollar homes -

Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds have leveled more than 2,000 structures, many of them multi-million dollar homes in a tragedy that the US media describe as the worst in the city's history.

Millions of Angelenos have watched in horror as blazes have erupted around America's second biggest city, sparking panic and fear.

Winds with gusts up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour spread the fire around the ritzy Pacific Palisades neighborhood with lightning speed.

At least 17,000 acres (6,900 hectares) burned there, with 1,000 homes and businesses razed.

A separate 10,600-acre (4,300-hectare) fire was burning around Altadena, north of the city, where flames tore through suburban streets.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said five people were known to have perished, with more deaths feared.

- Lost everything -

Among those who died was 66-year-old Victor Shaw, whose sister said he had ignored pleas to leave as the fire swept through Altendena because he wanted to protect their home.

"When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn't reply back," Shari Shaw said.

"I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to save myself."

Shaw's body was found by a friend on the driveway of his razed home, a garden hose in his hand.

William Gonzales got out alive, but his Altadena home was gone.

"We have lost practically everything; the flames have consumed all our dreams," he told AFP.

Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are offering evacuating residents free rides to shelter locations.

Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin hailed the bravery of first responders.

"Our death count today would be significantly higher without their heroic actions," Augustin told reporters.

President Joe Biden canceled a trip to Italy this week to focus on the federal response to the fires, and is due to address the nation later Thursday.

His incoming successor Donald Trump blamed the California governor Gavin Newsom for the devastation, calling on him to resign. "This is all his fault," Trump said on his Truth social platform.

- Climate crisis -

Wildfires are part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.

But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns.

Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, which sparked furious vegetative growth -- leaving the region packed with fuel and primed to burn -- and then has had no significant rain for eight months.

E.Goossens--JdB