Death toll rises to 10 as wildfires turn LA into ‘war zone’ with 10,000 homes burned down & $150billion worth of damage

RAGING wildfires ripping through Los Angeles have killed ten people and destroyed 10,000 homes.

Out-of-control flames have been tearing through neighborhoods for days as fierce winds threaten to fuel the towering infernos.

Fire responders and cadaver dogs continue to comb through charred debris in a desperate search for victims after the most devastating blaze in LA’s history.

So far, authorities have confirmed ten deaths – but it is feared the toll could be much higher as the flames wreak havoc.

More than 180,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes – with a further 200,000 warned they may need to quickly evacuate.

The Palisades Fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena have consumed some 53 square miles.

Neighborhoods have been reduced to ash, with celebrities including John Goodman and Leighton Meester watching their pads burn down.

A third fast-moving inferno dubbed Kenneth Fire has sparked mass evacuations in Calabasas and Hidden Hills.

It is being investigated as arson – with one suspect arrested.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said areas of the city “look like a bomb was dropped in them” – branding the fires a “crisis”.

Kenneth Fire ignited on Thursday afternoon after five separate fires sparked on Tuesday morning – causing mass destruction.

The devastating fires are set to have a costly impact on the city and its residents – with private forecaster Accuweather estimating the total damage and economic loss up to $150 billion.

Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the federal government will cover 100 per cent of the cost of the fires.

The outgoing president said the costs will include first responders’ salaries and shelters that are housing displaced residents.

Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees.

By the evening, the blaze had moved into neighboring Ventura County before rapidly spreading overnight to more than 800 acres.

About 400 firefighters remained on the scene overnight to guard against the fire flaring up.

The LA Fire Department initially issued mandatory evacuation orders for the area known as Hidden Hills, but has since downgraded that to warnings.

MOST DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN LA HISTORY

The Palisades Fire is the most destructive in Los Angeles’s history and has burned almost 20,000 acres alongside the coast.

Parts of Sunset Boulevard have been torched in that blaze, leaving one of the world’s most iconic streets in rubble and buildings gutted.

Palisades – the largest fire – has destroyed more than 5,000 homes and structures in its path.

Meanwhile, the out-of-control Eaton Fire has now wrecked up to 5,000 houses as the blaze spread to almost 14,000 acres on Thursday.

Other fires in the region include the SunSet Fire, which is ravaging Hollywood Hills.

Of the 10 deaths so far, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley confirmed two were in the Palisades Fire and county officials said the Eaton Fire had killed five.

The remains of three victims are still being identified, the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner said.

Two of the dead were Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son, Justin, who had cerebral palsy.

They were waiting for an ambulance to come and did not make it to safety when the flames roared through, Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White, told The Washington Post.

Shari Shaw told KTLA that she tried to get her 66-year-old brother, Victor Shaw, to evacuate Tuesday night but he wanted to stay and fight the fire.

Crews found his body with a garden hose in his hand.

On Thursday, recovery crews pulled a body from the rubble of what was a beachfront residence in Malibu.

A charred washer and dryer were among the few things that remained identifiable in the home along the Pacific Coast Highway.

Some 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from the Eaton Fire – which is burning near denser suburbs than the Palisades blaze.

All of the large fires that have broken out this week in the LA area are located in a roughly 40km band north of downtown, spreading a sense of fear across the nation’s second-largest city.

Dozens of blocks were flattened to smoldering rubble in scenic Pacific Palisades.

Only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remained.

In Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.