From above, devastating scenes from Los Angeles wildfires
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Major wildfires around Los Angeles raged for a third straight day on Thursday (Jan 9), as firefighters struggled to put out blazes in some areas.
In others, evacuees returned to their homes, only to find them smouldering in ash.
Swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky and an acrid smell pervading almost every building.
SEEING DESTRUCTION FROM ABOVE
The biggest blaze ripped through the upscale Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, while another fire in the Altadena area torched the suburb.
While active fires were far from under control, how much had already been destroyed was coming into view. From above, huge areas looked as if they had been bombed.
One neighbourhood was only recognisable by the outlines of the streets, as every house had been levelled by flames.
Meanwhile, another neighbourhood looked like a patchwork of both standing houses and others that were gone, smoke billowing into the sky.
THE RUBBLE
In areas where people who had been evacuated could return, what awaited them was dire. Sunrise illuminated the charred timbers of what had been buildings.
The wreckage of a home and a charred outdoor fireplace stood next to a swimming pool with water turned brackish from soot.
A couple, arms around each other, looked at what was left of their smouldering home. Another person stood, using their arm to cover their face, next to a home that looked like it had been bombed.
Some of those who had been forced out of their homes returned on Thursday to a scene of devastation.
"This looks like the apocalypse, to be honest with you, it just doesn't feel like the normal things that happen in your life," said 74-year-old singer Oren Waters, who was assessing what remained of his home of 50 years on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
"It's unimaginable," he said through a protective mask, as a few embers burned on the ground.
WHY HAVE THE FIRES SPREAD SO FAST
A prolonged dry spell combined with strong winds created the "perfect conditions" for the Los Angeles wildfires to rage out of control.
"We see these fires spread when it is hot and dry and windy, and right now all of those conditions are in place in southern California," Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central, told AFP.
While it is not yet known what started the blazes, "human-caused climate change is intensifying the heat that drives wildfires, increasing temperatures in southern California up to two degrees Celsius since 1895", Patrick Gonzalez, a climate change scientist at the University of California, Berkeley told AFP.
Experts say it's too soon to pinpoint exactly how much climate change contributed to the wildfires.
Last year's El Nino weather system brought heavy rains that fuelled excessive vegetation growth in the first half of 2024.
But the second half of the year was marked by drought across southern California, setting the stage for what scientists call "precipitation whiplash", another potential hallmark of climate change that turned the region into a tinderbox.
Low humidity - combined with strong, dry Santa Ana winds blowing inland - further parched the already desiccated shrublands.
ONGOING BATTLE
In all, five wildfires burned in Los Angeles County, and the skies buzzed with aircraft dropping retardant and water on the flaming hills.
Firefighters from half a dozen other US states and Canada were being rushed to California, while the Pentagon will send eight large planes and 500 wildfire clearance personnel.
Nearly 180,000 people across Los Angeles remain under evacuation orders, and at least 10 deaths have been reported in connection to the fires.
Amid the chaos, looting has broken out, with a curfew planned for affected areas, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, while the state's National Guard was set to spring into action.
"This is the most widespread, devastating fire in California's history," US President Joe Biden said as he convened a special meeting of senior administration officials at the White House.
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