The China Mail - Los Angeles fires rage on as National Guard called in

Swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky with an acrid smell pervading almost every building.

A vast firefighting operation continued for a third day, bolstered by water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds, but new fires continued to spring up.

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 were set to spring into action.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has officially requested the support of the California National Guard for both fires," Luna told reporters.

Governor Gavin Newsom said the California National Guard members, who were prepared to staff checkpoints and help control traffic, were part of a thousands-strong deployment of state personnel.

"We're throwing everything at our disposal -– including our National Guard service members –- to protect communities in the days to come," he said.

"And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated."

Luna said his officers were patrolling evacuation zones and would arrest anyone who was not supposed to be there.

But with such a huge area scorched by the fires, including the well-to-do Pacific Palisades and an area around Altadena, evacuees feared not enough was being done.

Some were taking matters into their own hands.

"We're so stressed about this looting happening all around that my neighbors were on watch all last night for several houses in the neighborhood," said one man whose house was one of just a handful left standing on a burned-out Altadena street.

"I'm supposed to take over for them tonight," said the man, who did not want to give his name.

- 'Death and destruction' -

The biggest blaze had ripped through over 19,000 acres (7,700 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while another fire in Altadena had torched 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares).

Neither was contained on Thursday, though firefighters said spreading had slowed.

US President Joe Biden told a White House briefing he had pledged extra federal funds and resources to help the state cope.

"This is the most widespread, devastating fire in California's history," he said.

Some of those who had been forced out of their homes returned Thursday to a scene of devastation.

Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said her mother's home had been spared by the inferno's seemingly random and chaotic destruction. Many other homes had not.

"The view now is of death and destruction," she told AFP. "I don't know if anyone can come back for a while."

The same fire flared up again near the summit of Mount Wilson, home to a historic observatory and vital communication towers and equipment.

A separate spot fire flared near Calabasas and the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, late Thursday.

The so-called Kenneth Fire exploded to almost 1,000 acres within hours, fanned by strong winds, even as firefighters dumped retardant and water.

- 'Critical' -

Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour since Tuesday have destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 structures across the city, some of them multi-million dollar homes, including those owned by celebrities like Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins and Billy Crystal.

Los Angeles fire chief Kirstin Crowley said a preliminary estimate of destroyed structures in Pacific Palisades was "in the thousands."

Nearly 180,000 people across Los Angeles remain under evacuation orders, and at least five deaths have been reported in connection to the fires.

Officials and meteorologists warn that "critical" windy and dry conditions, though abated, are not over.

"The winds continue to be of a historic nature... this is absolutely an unprecedented, historic firestorm," said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

A National Weather Service bulletin said "significant fire growth" remained likely "with ongoing or new fires" throughout Thursday and into Friday.

- Climate crisis -

Wildfires are part of life in the western United States and play a vital role in nature.

But scientists say human-caused climate change is causing more severe weather patterns.

Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, sparking furious vegetative growth.

That has left the region, which has had no significant rain for eight months, packed with fuel and primed to burn.

C.Smith--ThChM