Fire

Nearly 180,000 LA residents under evacuation orders - officials

by Sam Hancock and Neha Gohil

We're hearing that around 179,700 Los Angeles County residents are now under evacuation orders, as of early on Thursday, and nearly 200,000 are under evacuation warnings, LA county's Office of Emergency Management says.

The last figure circulating suggested around 130,000 people had been ordered to evacuate - so a fairly significant jump.

Fires have covered roughly 45 square miles (117 square km) and left five people dead, officials say.

More than 1,300 buildings have already burned and over 60,000 structures are under threat in densely-populated areas.

We're going to be hearing at about 08:00 local time (16:00 GMT) from Los Angeles officials on the status of the wildfires that have killed at least five people and destroyed structures across the city.

It's the first time we'll hear from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced criticism for being out of town when the fires began. She was on a trip to Ghana for the inauguration of its new president.

Also expected to speak are:

• LA County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger
• LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath
• LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone
• LA City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley
• LA County Sheriff Robert Luna
• LA. City Police Chief Jim McDonnell
• LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman
• LA County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan
• LA County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella
• LA Department of Water and Power CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quinones

Calmer winds, but threat of more fires remains

People in Los Angeles will soon be waking up to calmer conditions that could help firefighters tackle the powerful blazes across the city - though conditions later today could still fuel the fires.

The Palisades fire remains the largest in the city with more than 17,000 acres burned, followed by the Eaton fire that is more than 10,000 acres in size. Both are still at 0% containment.

But winds in Los Angeles are calmer this morning, after Wednesday brought gusts of up to 80mph (130km/h) that fuelled the fires, said Brent Pascua, battalion chief with California's fire authority.

“I believe if it stays like this we can actually turn a corner on these fires and make some progress today, some good progress. In case they pick up again later tonight we’ll have something to anchor into,” he told NBC News on Thursday morning.

Still, winds are expected to increase this evening into Friday morning and a red flag warning of critical fire weather is in force until 18:00 local time Friday (02:00 GMT Saturday).

'Unlike anything I've ever seen' - fire captain

A captain with the Los Angeles Fire Department says crews are continuing to battle "erratic winds" as they attempt to control the fires around the city.

Adam Vangerpen says the situation is "unlike anything that I've ever seen in my 25 years on the fire department", CBS News, the BBC's US partner, reports.

He adds that the fire department's priority is saving lives and helping people to safely evacuate.