live from london, this is bbc news. firefighters are battling and failing to control huge wildfires in california in and around los angeles. evacuation orders are in place, 30,000 people are told to leave their homes, firefighters say, there's "no possibility" of bringing the fires under control. these wind gusts are at time hurricane force wind gusts, they pick up the burning hot embers and spread them a mile or more away at times. those things are catching fire. these the live pictures. we'll get the latest from our correspondent on the ground, we'll also hear from a woman who's had to leave her home, we'll talk to officials organising the evacuations and to a us meteorologist about how long the fires are expected to burn. also on the programme... here, the prime minister and leader of the opposition clash over whether there should be a national inquiry into child sexual abuse

by grooming gangs. and france's foreign minister hits back against donald trump, who refuses to rule out using military or economic force to take control of greenland. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. thousands of people have fled their homes in los angeles, as devastating wildfires move through the city's suburbs. a state of emergency has been declared after a relatively small blaze took hold, spreading at speed to cover almost 3,000 acres of land in a few hours. dramatic pictures showed people abandoning their houses and cars to escape from the flames with firefighters overwhelmed. joe inwood has the latest. california is used to wildfires. but not like these. thousands of acres of los angeles, engulfed in just a few hours.

high winds fueled the flames, which started in the surrounding hills, but soon swept through some of the most wealthy neighbourhoods in the city. thousands of firefighters tried to push them back, but it soon became clear they would struggle to stop them spreading. the population threatened is approximately 25,748. households threatened, approximately 10,367. structures threatened are approximately 13,208. at this point, we feel very blessed, at this point, that there is no injuries that are reported. we do have reports of multiple structures that are damaged. 0n the us pacific coast, wildfires used to be seasonal. they are now a year—round event. these ones started in a number of locations, including the eaton canyon area. a third is now said to have started in san fernando valley. as the flames spread,

so did the panic. streets were gridlocked as people tried to flee, hampering the emergency services. evacuation orders were put in place for tens of thousands of residents, and shelters quickly set up. my sister called, and she was, like, "are you 0k?" at that moment, a helicopter flew over my house and just dropped water. i thought, it's raining. she said, "it is not raining, your neighbourhood is on fire, "you need to get out." as soon as i opened my door, it was right there. the first thing i did was look at the trees to see where the wind was blowing. it hit me and blew me back. i was getting more and more frantic as the lights were getting darker and the sky was getting more red. it was scary. it took me a minute to get my uncle and my aunt, to get them to get out. a state of emergency has been declared, with the white house

saying federal funding has been made available. but it could be that worse is still to come. by no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods. you heard the chief say 10pm tonight, until 5am tomorrow will be peak winds. having just quite literally an hour or so ago gone up the canyon and saw first—hand the impact of the swirling winds and the embers, and the number of structures that are destroyed. not a few — many structures are already destroyed, and the fact that people were still not evacuating, still did not heed the warning, are just coming the warning, were just coming down the canyon, it is a reminder of how serious this moment is and how important it is that you listen to these evacuation orders. as los angeles starts to wake up, much of the city is still burning.

the pasadena synagogue, one of the latest to be lost to the flames. and still the fires spread. cbs reporterjonathan vigliotti is at the scene and he describes what those firefighters are facing. we are here at the — firefighters are facing. we are here at the heart _ firefighters are facing. we are here at the heart of— firefighters are facing. we are here at the heart of the - here at the heart of the pacific palisades in a neighbourhood that is a total loss. we have a home here, another home lost, if we come over this way, homes down the street gone, this one completely levelled. the firefighters here are not trying to save the structures, they are trying to prevent these flames from jumping to other neighbourhoods. in some cases, these numbers are being carried a mile in advance of the source flames, lighting of the source flames, lighting of the homes on fire.— the homes on fire. well, a really graphic _ the homes on fire. well, a really graphic description i really graphic description right there with one of those fires behind that reporter. let me show you some of the live pictures coming into the building because we are just

getting the first glimpses of daylight there, but you can see just these huge fires. there are four fires that these firefighters are battling with, a fourth one identified this morning about 60 miles from the other three. moo firefighters involved, but all of them, i was looking about only five minutes ago, from the los angeles site for the fire crews, where it is being organised and one by one they went through the fires and they said 0% containment for each of the fires. so that is the backdrop. these fires are still raging and that is what people are waking up to this morning in los angeles, a huge, huge black cloud swamping so much of the area. thatjust gives you a glimpse of the sort of intensity of the fires they are seeing there. let's get the latest on the ground from our correspondence, peter bowes.

daylight where you are, but i was showing some of the live pictures from other areas and a huge black cloud. tell me first where you are and what is happening around you. i where you are and what is happening around you. i am to the north _ happening around you. i am to the north of— happening around you. i am to the north of the _ happening around you. i am to the north of the city _ happening around you. i am to the north of the city of- happening around you. i am to the north of the city of los - the north of the city of los angeles, about 32 miles north of hollywood, an area known as santa clarita, just north of sylmar, which is where one of those big fires burning. as i look at these guys around me just getting light in the last 30 minutes or so here, i can see that hazy, red looking atmosphere above the mountains, the clouds that are really a dirty sort of ready brown colour, just indicating to me thatjust colour, just indicating to me that just over the colour, just indicating to me thatjust over the hills in front of me, that is where one of the fires burning. and to hear about 0% containment in all of those fires is what is the most worrying for anyone living in any of these fire areas around this vast area of greater los angeles. if you imagine the first fire to burn

on the coast in pacific palisades is about 50 plus miles from the second big fire, which is burning in altadena, again to the north of the city. that is why this is such a terrifying situation because it stretches the forces to the limit and you can see behind me the wind is really kicking up right now. we can see, this is the thing the authorities were worried about and forecasters were predicting that towards the end of the night and the next day, where we are now, that winds would really kick up the problems and that is exactly what is happening because these winds are just fuelling the flames. there haven't been any aerial drops of water orfire haven't been any aerial drops of water or fire retardant chemicals overnight, it isn't possible at night time, so that will bejust beginning possible at night time, so that will be just beginning to start again now, with the hope of getting some containment in all of these big fires. the pictures _ of these big fires. the pictures are _ of these big fires. the | pictures are terrifying, of these big fires. the pictures are terrifying, peter. i will ask you about the

evacuations is any moment, but i heard you say a little earlier, you have lived there for such a long time, but these are some of the worst fires you have ever seen?— are some of the worst fires you have ever seen? they are some ofthe have ever seen? they are some of the worst _ have ever seen? they are some of the worst fires _ have ever seen? they are some of the worst fires i _ have ever seen? they are some of the worst fires i have - have ever seen? they are some of the worst fires i have seen. l of the worst fires i have seen. i have seen really bad fires and where i am standing right now in 2019 was engulfed by fire. some of the homes behind me were completely destroyed. so i have seen the most intense fires. what i haven't seen is the number of fires over such a wide area all happening at the same time. not only a wide area, but by and large densely populated areas as well. 0ften populated areas as well. often you will hear about these fires burning in the wilderness, in the urban fringe, as it is called, the line between the forests and the agricultural areas and the city and not many people's homes were in danger. with these fires, they are on the edge of the city and to some extent, the area of san julius that is getting close to

the most intensely populated parts —— the area of san the area of los angeles and is getting close to the most intensely populated parts. find intensely populated parts. and the are intensely populated parts. and they are moving _ intensely populated parts. and they are moving at such speed. tell me more about the evacuations, the numbers that have got out, there is still to get out, the sorts of scenes you have been witnessing overnight?— you have been witnessing overnight? you have been witnessing overniuht? ~ , ., ., overnight? we understand about 30,000 overnight? we understand about 30.000 people _ overnight? we understand about 30,000 people have _ overnight? we understand about 30,000 people have been - 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and as we are hearing about more fires, those numbers will be increasing. certainly, in the early hours in pacific palisades, as people were trying to get out of their neighbourhoods, there were some frantic scenes, people were dumping their cars, grabbing a few belongings, obviously grabbing their children and pets, if possible, and then realising that once they got onto the roads they were just logjams with vehicles and they were not getting anywhere. and the flames were following them behind and theyjust had to get out of their cars and walk or run to safety and try to get to

some of the evacuation centres or in some cases go to friends' homes or relatives' homes in safer parts of the city. that meant there were lots of abandoned vehicles blocking the road to the firefighters, so they brought in bulldozers just to forcibly move apart those vehicles, obviously destroying the vehicles, just to make a path into the worst affected fire areas so that they could tackle the flames. so right now those evacuation centres full of people who, tragically in some cases, willjust be sitting there, may be waking up and wondering whether they have and wondering whether they have a home to go back to and again, tragically, many of them won't have a hope to go back to. we know that hundreds of properties, businesses, homes, medical facilities, properties, businesses, homes, medicalfacilities, at properties, businesses, homes, medical facilities, at least one school have been destroyed. peter, thanks very much. we will talk again in the coming hours through the course of the programme because things are very fluid and we are expecting an update on the fire service and about 50 minutes' time, which we will bring you live.

the latest in terms of the power situation, one at the southern california power company saying they have turned off power to over 11a,000 customers as public safety measures, due to these wildfires. so all sorts of consequences we are seeing playing out. let's speak to councilmember tracy park, represents one of the people under siege from those intense fires. welcome to the programme. describe how bad his in your area. programme. describe how bad his in yourarea. i programme. describe how bad his in your area-— in your area. i represent the pacific palisades _ in your area. i represent the pacific palisades communityj in your area. i represent the - pacific palisades community and the scope and scale of the loss is just absolutely devastating. as the sun is rising here in los angeles and the winds hopefully cooperate and we can get air assets up to begin the assessment, we are preparing for the worst, but we are incredibly grateful that at this point there have been no reported fatalities or major

incident a few injuries. this has been an absolutely terrifying and traumatic 2a hours for the westside of los angeles. hours for the westside of los an . eles. . hours for the westside of los anaeles. . ,, hours for the westside of los anaeles. ., i. , . angeles. have you experienced an hint angeles. have you experienced anything like — angeles. have you experienced anything like that _ angeles. have you experienced anything like that in _ angeles. have you experienced anything like that in terms - angeles. have you experienced anything like that in terms of. anything like that in terms of how close it is getting to the areas where you are? and actually, the speed this thing is moving? i actually, the speed this thing is moving?— is moving? i have never seen anything _ is moving? i have never seen anything like _ is moving? i have never seen anything like this. _ is moving? i have never seen anything like this. i _ is moving? i have never seen anything like this. i was - is moving? i have never seen anything like this. i was out | anything like this. i was out personally in the field, on the front lines at fire command post and the speed with which this fire tore through our neighbourhoods, down our hillsides, jumped across pch was remarkable and horrifying. the response of our public safety partners, their acts of heroism, ensuring that people were evacuating. my own council office field team was going door—to—door in the pacific palisades, escorting people through burning neighbourhoods. i have never seen anything

through burning neighbourhoods. i have n