hello, i'm annita mcveigh. you're watching the context on bbc news there are still four fires burning, zero containment of those, so very dangerous situation continues for los angeles. together, these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits. the — to their maximum limits. the to their maximum limits. scope and scale of the lo is the scope and scale of the loss isjust— the scope and scale of the loss is just absolutely— the scope and scale of the loss is just absolutely devastating. i tonight — fire chiefs in los angeles warn there's no way they can contain the largest of the blazes in the city. emergency service are stretched to their limits. we'll hear from some of those who've evacuated. plus — european leaders react to controversial comments form president—elect

donald trump about greenland. and — the new study shedding light on the potential power of a glass of milk. the chief of the los angeles fire department says emergency services are streatched to the their absolute limit as they battle four huge wildfires. kristin crowley is warning all residents are in danger as strong winds drive the flames — in some cases burning through an area equivalent to five football pitches in a minute. together, these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits. the los angeles city fire department is battling these two major fires while also maintaining, i want to focus on this as well, 911 services for the cities approximate 4 million residents. now, despite the severity of the conditions, our department remains fully committed to safeguarding lives and property.

right now, the emergency services say their focus is on evacuation. tens of thousands of people have already been told to leave their homes or have been warned they may have to evacuate. two people have been killed and dozens more injured. the fire in the upscale pacific palisades neighbourhood — home to many celebrities — has spread to more than 3,000 acres. a fire above altadena, near the eaton canyon, is growing. 50 acres are burning in the sylmar suburbs, where a mandatory evacuation has been ordered — that's the hurst fire. a fourth, much smaller, blaze has been reported in southern california. and in the last couple of hours, another fire has now broken out — in woodley. let's speak to caitlin doran — caitlin along with her grandparents and animals including her giant tortoise were forced to evacuate due to the fires. iam i am really pleased to hear

that you are all safe, but i am sure you have gone through a really traumatic few hours, first of all i have to ask a giant tortoise i guess is not easy to evacuate one of those. no, and i mean of course we have an evacuation plan living in the fire zone, however, actually following through with the evacuation plan is a different story, it has been insane, we have gotten very lucky so far that he is as happy as can be, but we have a full house over here stop you have quite a social media profiles, the two of you, but tell us your story.— profiles, the two of you, but tell us your story. take us to the point _ tell us your story. take us to the point of— tell us your story. take us to the point of what _ tell us your story. take us to the point of what you - tell us your story. take us to the point of what you heard l the point of what you heard about the fires and through the whole process of having to evacuate. it whole process of having to evacuate-— whole process of having to evacuate. , . , ., , evacuate. it is a bit about my famil , evacuate. it is a bit about my family. we — evacuate. it is a bit about my family, we are _ evacuate. it is a bit about my family, we are fifth _ evacuate. it is a bit about my. family, we are fifth generation palace aliens, years and years ago, one of the first families to everett list —— live in the palisades and settled there, so

palisades and settled there, so palisades is our home, community, my grandfather owns a property where the hardware stories, the grocery store, community driven people, so my mum called me at 10:30am, freaking out because she was not at home and she saw smoke, so got in the car and drove out there, because the last time we had a fire, you were not able to get in our outs, so i got up there first thing, and we sat on the patio of our house for three or four hours just watching the smoke, but the fire was going the opposite direction so there was not like it lots of water coming on the other side so we were not too worried about it, fire is fire, but while, that changed very quickly we started to get worried around 3pm orfour p:m., got the tortoise out of there and got him down to the 800 block where up the 1100

block so close to the truth in everything, but once we got him out, we were able to get my grandparents out of their house but that is always a challenging thing to do when you left the home. so we got them out of the house and tiptoed down to my own house in the marina, which is about 20 minutes away, got him unloaded, fire started to get quite a bit worse, and there were no fire trucks —— trucks in our neighbourhood, no emergency vehicles, so, naturally, my family, there here to save the house, grandfather had a hose, my friend had a hose, nat had a hose, mum had a hose on the roof, when we arrived. sunlight was supposed to still be there, and it took about an hour or so before i started to get a little bit too nervous and had to get my grandfather out of there, he is 84 years old, and

he was literally at saving his house as much as he could, incredible man, but we got him out and my dad and boyfriend and brothers stayed until about 10pm when the fire reached the bush in our back yard, and at that point, my friend said, it is time to go,.— is time to go,. that's where ou is time to go,. that's where you had _ is time to go,. that's where you had to _ is time to go,. that's where you had to call _ is time to go,. that's where you had to call it _ is time to go,. that's where you had to call it are - is time to go,. that's where you had to call it are they i is time to go,. that's where i you had to call it are they had to call it, because it is life over property, as much as that poverty clearly means so much to you all, and just talk to us about that point where they decided they had to collect and leave the home to the flames. 0h, leave the home to the flames. oh, it was devastating, my dad has videos of our beautiful pink brick house in flames, you know, like, we did not bring anything, my mum does not even own a pair of socks. we were so, i want to say prepared, but

underprepared, we got the animals out and the family outs, but, i mean, what do you do? my poor mum, she is a collector, she grew up in the house across the street, we live across the street from my grandparents, so she grew up on that street. everything she has, stay—at—home mum, our children's artwork, all over the walls, it is beyond devastating. ifeel like devastating. i feel like everybody is devastating. ifeel like everybody is still in a state of shock, we have six animals, 12 of full—grown adults in the living room, and there's nothing to go back to, there is nothing to go back to, there is not even a grocery store, so there... there is no schools. like, there's nothing... we're just figuring it out, we got lucky with tiptoed that my landlord called this morning and she had a group of people working on one of her properties. she cancelled them there and sent them somewhere,

and there's a new tip to house being built right now. we and there's a new tip to house being built right now.- being built right now. we love our ets being built right now. we love our pets as — being built right now. we love our pets as well, _ being built right now. we love our pets as well, so _ being built right now. we love our pets as well, so it - being built right now. we love our pets as well, so it is - our pets as well, so it is important to make sure they are safe as well too, and caitlin, thank you for talking to us here on bbc news, i am so sorry for what you and family have had to go through, and what you have lost, but thank goodness you are all well, and perhaps we can talk again in a few days to see how things are with you. caitlin doran, thank you. absolutely, thank you. we speak to emma vardy _ absolutely, thank you. we speak to emma vardy in _ absolutely, thank you. we speak to emma vardy in santa - absolutely, thank you. we speak to emma vardy in santa monica, | to emma vardy in santa monica, emma, your been outs in this for hours, tell us more about the situation where you are? santa monica, one of the most famous bits of los angeles, you might remember it from the barbie film, where she was down to see from there, looks completely different today. i

tell you, the air is still a very smoky here, even though we have moved away from the pacific palisades area, where the fire is still burning more fiercely, and it is pretty deserted here, some people are out in it, but even down here by the coast, it is very difficult to breathe, the taste of smoke and you can barely really see it very far into the distance because the smoke is just clouded the whole city, clouded a coastline as well as further inland. we know that the firefighters are still trying to battle this fire. the forecast is that the winds will hopefully drop off a bit this afternoon. you can still feel the breeze down here, although it is not as intense as it was overnight. it is not as intense as it was overnight-— it is not as intense as it was overniaht. . �* , ., overnight. emma, i'm 'ust going to interrupt * overnight. emma, i'm 'ust going to interrupt you _ overnight. emma, i'm 'ust going to interrupt you to _ overnight. emma, i'mjust going to interrupt you to say, - overnight. emma, i'mjust going to interrupt you to say, that - to interrupt you to say, that we can hear that wind, it is buffeting you, it is obviously moving the trees behind you, and throughout the date we have been hearing about what a problem that wind is and how it

has been driving the flames, so we can hear it loud and clear. yes, i'll try and shudder that might for you, yes, i'll try and shudder that might foryou, i know yes, i'll try and shudder that might for you, i know how difficult it is to listen whenever wind howled into them microphone, but the palm trees have been swaying into the wind for 24 hours, and that is what is fanning the flames, and the reason why the emergency services keep giving the updates and telling us there is zero contentment at the moment. it is still a very developing its in lots of areas, more residents being evacuated as the fires are still burning on multiple fronts, four or five big ones, and other smaller ones. schools being closed, tv shows been shut down for the day, so the city is kind of in a state of shock, really, because many people have experienced wildfires here before, but they have not experienced so many happening so quickly with such a devastating combination of these hurricane force winds under very dry winter that los

angeles has experienced. emma, sta safe, angeles has experienced. emma, stay safe. you _ angeles has experienced. emma, stay safe, you and _ angeles has experienced. emma, stay safe, you and your— angeles has experienced. emma, stay safe, you and your crew, - stay safe, you and your crew, thank you, emma vardy in santa monica for us. and when you are here is part of the story. joining me now is jacob rabbie, a captain and paramedic with the la fire department. we appreciate you talking to us at a time when you are your colleagues are working flat out, where are you and what is a situation where you are question mark i am? i a situation where you are question marki am? i am at our unified command _ question marki am? i am at our unified command post _ question marki am? i am at our unified command postjust - question marki am? i am at our unified command postjust north of the palisades fire, i'm in a safe area i would from the smoke, so we're trained to manage the innocent —— incident. manage the innocent -- incident-— incident. your been a firefighter _ incident. your been a firefighter for - incident. your been a firefighter for 25 - incident. your been a l firefighter for 25 years, incident. your been a - firefighter for 25 years, how does this by these fires compare with what you have dealt with before? in compare with what you have dealt with before?— compare with what you have dealt with before? in la, we are used _ dealt with before? in la, we are used to _ dealt with before? in la, we are used to having _ dealt with before? in la, we| are used to having brushfires in the season. this fire specifically strikes me as something that, what we call is sent ana winds, strong winds that come from the canyons and

push down the canyons to the ocean. that is very normal for us to have, and where you stood increase in our resources, up staff and, being in a very prepared posture as the la fd in preparation of a