Los Angeles fires burn 10,000 structures as new blaze spreads

Third blaze breaks out in West Hills as authorities battle to bring existing fires under control.

Two wildfires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least seven people and burned some 10,000 homes and structures, local officials have said, as a third blaze prompted the evacuation of thousands of more residents.

The latest blaze, the Kenneth fire, broke out in West Hills, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, on Thursday afternoon as fire crews were still battling to bring the Palisades and Eaton fires under control.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the third fire was expected to spread rapidly due to high winds.

The latest evacuation orders came as officials confirmed that the Palisades and Eaton fires had each destroyed about 5,000 structures, which includes homes as well as other property such as cars and sheds.

The two fires have consumed more than 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land between them, according to the state wildfire agency Cal Fire.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a news conference he expected the number of confirmed dead to rise.

“It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers,” Luna said.

Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders due to the fire, with another 200,000 residents subject to evacuation warnings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Dozens of blocks have been reduced to ash in the affluent communities of Malibu and Pacific Palisades.

Celebrities including James Woods, Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are among those who have lost their homes in the fires.

“There are areas where everything is gone, there isn’t even a stick of wood left, it’s just dirt,” said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.

Reporting from the Pacific Palisades, Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds said the extent of the destruction was “hard to fathom”.

“The hillsides are burned. There’s a high school … that has been heavily damaged. You can see houses where there’s nothing left but the chimney remaining,” he said.

“It goes on – literally – for kilometre after kilometre, block after block after block.”

US President Joe Biden, who is set to be replaced by President-elect Donald Trump in the White House on January 20, appealed to Congress to provide aid.

“I hope they’re ready to step up because we can afford it, Biden said, adding that he hoped lawmakers would “not make a political deal out of this.

“I’m leaving this office very shortly, but it’s not about the politics,” Biden said.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies