Two huge wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west reduced to ashes around 10,000 homes and other structures.
The huge fire entered into a third night even as the fierce winds eased and gave firefighters a welcome but it was temporary respite.
The Palisades Fire between Malibu and Santa Monica on the western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history. It consumed 34,000 acres (13,750 hectares) turning entire neighborhoods to ash.
Officials reported a total of seven people dead, though Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told media he did not want to pronounce an exact number until it was safe for human remains detection teams to carry out house-to-house searches.
Luna expected the number to rise.
He further said that it looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. He continued that he doesn’t expect good news.
Earlier, he said the Eaton Fire alone had destroyed 4,000 to 5,000 structures while the Palisades Fire damaged another 5,300.
Private forecaster AccuWeather has assessed the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion.
Mayor Karen Bass said they are already looking ahead to aggressively rebuild the city of Los Angeles. The Democrat mayor is facing criticism from Donald Trump and other Republicans over her handling of the fires.
