Los Angeles County Fire chief Anthony Marrone estimated that 1,000 homes and businesses have burned in the Palisades fire, the largest of the blazes in the south of the city, alone and that 100 more have been destroyed in the Eaton fire.
Image: Pic: Reuters
A preliminary review from insurance analysts at JP Morgan estimated that losses from the fires could top $10bn (£8.1bn), Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.
Here is everything we know about the blazes, in what fire chiefs have called a “tragic” chapter for the city.
Image: Flames rise from the Sunset fire. Pic: Reuters
Image: The damage left behind due to fire in Pacific Palisades. Pic: AP
Where are the fires, and how big are they?
There are currently five major fires raging across LA.
Here is a list of how big they are and how “contained” they are – referring to what degree the fire department has them under control.
Image: The California wildfires as of Thursday morning
Palisades fire
A bush fire started the blaze in Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles County neighbourhood east of Malibu, on Tuesday morning.
By Wednesday afternoon, it had grown to more than 15,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Currently, it is covering at least 17,234 acres and is 0% contained by firefighters.
Image: The largest of the blazes is in the Pacific Pailsades area
Eaton fire
The Eaton fire ignited Tuesday night near a canyon in the sprawling national forest lands north of downtown LA and had exploded to more than 10,000 acres by Wednesday, according to the US Forest Service.
Currently, it covers at least 10,600 acres and is 0% contained.
Hurst fire
Also on Tuesday night a fire broke out in Sylmar, a suburban neighbourhood north of San Fernando, after a brush fire.
It quickly grew to 500 acres, and currently covers 855 acres. It is 10% contained.
Lidia fire
The Lidia fire broke out near the community of Acton in a region between the Sierra Pelona and San Gabriel mountains.
Currently, at least 348 acres are affected by the blaze. It is 40% contained.
Sunset fire
The Sunset fire was sparked in the Hollywood Hills of LA, near Runyon Canyon, shortly before 6pm local time on Wednesday, prompting mandatory evacuations.
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Wildfires burn through Hollywood Hills
The blaze currently covers 43 acres and is 0% contained.
The Woodley fire in Sepulveda Basin was “under control” before it grew beyond 30 acres, while a blaze that engulfed Hollywood’s Studio City has now been extinguished, with no casualties.
Image: Altadena in California before the fires.
Pic: Maxar/Reuters
Image: And after. Pic: Maxar/Reuters
Why is this happening in January – and when is wildfire season?
The typical wildfire season in the US usually kicks off mid-year, around May.
Image: The spread of the fire on Tuesday afternoon
Image: And its progression early on Wednesday morning
Wind speeds of up to 100mph work to spread the flames and coupled with a lack of humidity in the air, and patches of dry vegetation, the ground is much more flammable.
These winds create an “atmospheric blow-dryer” effect that will “dry things out even further”, Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said.
The longer the extreme wind persists, the drier the vegetation will become, he said.
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2:45
How fast did the wildfires spread?
California governor Gavin Newsom said fire season has become “year-round in the state of California” despite the state not “traditionally” seeing fires at this time of year – apparently alluding to the impact of climate change.
Why are firefighters running out of water?
The demanding nature of the fires has led to reports that fire hydrants across the city have gone dry.
Wildfire attorney Ari Friedman, a partner and trial attorney at the Los Angeles-based law firm Wisner Baum, put this down to the increased demand simply overwhelming the supply.
Image: A satellite image shows the Pacific Coast Highway along the Malibu coastline before devastating wildfires.Pic: Maxr/Reuters
Image: The same satellite view after fires broke out.
Pic: Maxar/Reuters
But, he said, this “doesn’t immediately point to an equipment or water line failure as a lawyer might think of it”.
Mr Friedman added that the Palisades area, the site of the biggest fire, is served by water tanks because of the area’s high elevation.
Which celebrities have been impacted?
Hollywood celebrities are among the thousands of people who have been evacuated, while some have said they have lost their homes completely due to the fires.
The likes of Paris Hilton and actor Billy Crystal both described the anguish of losing the homes they raised their children in, with the socialite saying she was “heartbroken beyond words” to see her Malibu home “burn to the ground on live TV”.
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Actor tells Sky News of wildfires ‘panic’
Oscar-winning songwriter Diane Warren said she had also lost her home of 30 years in the fires, while The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag also confirmed they had lost their home in the fires.
American presenter and actress Ricki Lake posted on Instagram to say she had lost her “dream home”, the same place she and her husband got married three years ago.
Sky News’ US correspondent Martha Kelner reported that Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck and Reese Witherspoon were all evacuated as wildfires continued to spread in the Pacific Palisades suburb of LA – an area known to be home to billionaires and A-listers.
The havoc caused by the fires has also led to the cancellation of several key dates in the awards season calendar.
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1:37
Stephanie Pratt: ‘I don’t know if my house is there’
The annual Critics Choice Awards ceremony was due to take place this weekend, but has been postponed by two weeks, to 26 January, “due to the catastrophic fires”, organisers said in a statement.
Production on several television programmes, including America’s Got Talent, Loot, Ted, Suits: LA, Happy’s Place and Hacks, is also at a standstill.
What have Trump and Biden said?
The White House said on Wednesday that President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California that will clear the way for federal funds and resources to be accessed in recovery efforts.
A statement said the president is “focused on mobilising life-saving and life-sustaining resources across the region,” and that he is “praying for those who lost loved ones, had property damaged, were injured, and for everyone affected by this and other devastating fires in the area”.
He has also cancelled his coming trip to Italy to deal with the wildfires.
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1:13
Trump blames governor for wildfires
Meanwhile, president-elect Donald Trump took aim at California’s governor Mr Newsom, repeating claims that firefighters did not have enough water in their hydrants to tackle the blaze.
“It’s a mistake of the governor, and you can say the administration,” he said on Wednesday evening.
“They don’t have any water. They didn’t have water in the fire hydrants. The governor has not done a good job.”
When will the fire weather end?
The winds that have been fuelling the blazes are beginning to drop, but dangerous conditions are expected to persist through until at least Friday, NBC said.
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Climate scientist Daniel Swain said some of the driest vegetation will come after the strongest winds have died down, warning: “So the reality is that there’s going to be a very long period of high fire risk.”
A warning for high wind remains in place for parts of greater Los Angeles, including the Malibu coast and the Santa Monica Mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
The forecaster suggests wind speeds could reach up to 60 mph.
Red flag warnings – which are issued by the National Weather Service to warn the public and authorities of imminent weather conditions that may result in extreme fire – are also set to remain in place until at least 6pm local time on Friday.
Humidity levels are expected to stay low, and they could dip into single digits in some areas into Friday.
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.
Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.
Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”
In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.
Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.
“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.
“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.
He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”
Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.
The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.
The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.
In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.
However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.
As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.