live from washington, this is bbc news. disaster in los angeles. four wildfires are burning out of control. firefighters say they are short of water as the fires remain completely uncontained. at least 70,000 people have been ordered to flee their homes. more than a thousand buildings have been destroyed and authorities are warning all la residents that they are in danger. officials expect the fires to worsen due to ferocious winds, as president biden pledges extra firefighters and resources. hello. the death toll from california's wildfires has risen to five. four fires are continuing to burn out of control in the suburbs of los angeles. officials say despite best efforts, the fires are 0% contained. these are live pictures from los angeles. at least 70,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes — and tens of thousands more have been told to pack and be

ready to go. we're expecting to hear from the los angeles fire department, sherrif and mayor — we'll bring you that live as soon as we have it. in the meantime, the lafd chief has said all la residents are in danger. here's where the fires are burning. a fire around the palisades — between santa monica and malibu started last night, driven by fierce winds. it spread with incredible speed through tinder—dry conditions. within a matter of hours, the area on fire had doubled in size. the city's police chief says the fire conditions are unprecedented and unpredicatable and that there is no possibility of bringing them under control. more than a thousand firefighters have been deployed, including some from other states. 1000 buildings have been destroyed in one area alone — the pacific palisades neighbourhood. us presidentjoe biden has promised additional personnel and assets from the us department of defense. 0ur correspondent emma vardy reports from los angeles.

as dawn broke, la awoke to an apocalyptic site. smoke blocking out the skies over santa monica beach after a terrifying 2a hours. the fire grew at an extraordinary speed, flames raging out of control as hurricane force winds battered the coast. and the fire continues to grow with 0% containment. we have over 500 personnel assigned and unfortunately, we have two reported fatalities to civilians. la county and all 29 fire departments in our county are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster. there are not enough firefighters in la county. along this coastal road, we have been seeing the fires destruction. there is power lines down, patches still smouldering and the air is so thick with smoke that we can barely see more than a few metres in front of us. this was the moment two residents found their house

engulfed by flames. it's going to be ok, all right? we are going to be ok. la's governor watched as the fire spread across thousands of acres in hours. thousands made homeless, a state of emergency called in a situation out of control. some abandoning their cars to the mercy of the flames. 0thers made attempts to stay and save their homes. fire crews struggled against a terrifying inferno causing utter destruction. flights continued to land into la's main airport. passengers witnessed the frightening scenes below. oh, my god. emergency services have been stretched to their limit, battling the unpredictable fires on multiple fronts. at least 1,000 buildings have been destroyed as the situation took many people by surprise. my sister called and she was like, "are you 0k?"

and at that moment, a helicopter flew over my house and just dropped water and i was like, "it's raining." she was like, "no, it's not raining, your neighbourhood "is on fire, you need to get out." in one of the worst—hit areas, a reporter described the carnage. you're at the heart of the pacific in a neighbourhood that is completely lost. home's out in the street gone. as the second fire broke out, elderly residents of a care home huddled in a car park. a lot of these people are terrified and they don't have a blanket, they have nothing. in some of la's most exclusive neighbourhoods, hollywood stars left their homes to the flames. none of the fires have yet been brought under control. some returned to their neighbourhoods now turned to ash. i'm ok, i'll be ok.

i am tough and we will start over, even though i am 91 years old, i will start over again. this afternoon, president biden visited teams on the ground to get an update. we will do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct, make sure we get back to normal. it will be a hell of a long way. many still unsure where to go in this fast changing situation. look at this. beyond comprehension. a dark day for los angeles. the californian dream becoming a nightmare. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. the fire in the pacific palisades is already the most destructive fire in the history of los angeles. 0ur correspondent david willis is in the pacific palisades and joins me live. tell us what the conditions are like at this hour?—

like at this hour? well, 'ust five o'clock in i like at this hour? well, 'ust five o'clock in the i like at this hour? well, just five o'clock in the evening l five o'clock in the evening here and the winds are already starting to pick up. you can see behind me are the hillside behind me and perhaps, in an acknowledgement of the fact that they are fighting a losing battle in combating this wildfires, officials are sure a ago that sought to reassure anxious residents, telling them that help was on its way and machinery and urging patients saying that they would get the situation under control but it might take time. now, last night, the bridgejust behind me here, hundreds of luxury ocean run homes were reduced to match would and on that hillside, there was once about 170 luxury mobile homes. now, they are not there, that area

has been reduced to rubble. fire officials conceding here that they are overwhelmed as far as fighting these fires are concerned, even though additional resources are now on the way from the state of nevada and oregon and washington state but they appear to be for now, anyway, pinning their hopes on combating these fires, fighting them from the skies above with aircraft supplied by the national guard and the us navy, equipped with the water facilities from the pacific ocean, dropped on these flames 0cean, dropped on these flames in an attempt to quell the blazes. but so far, zero containment and as night falls here, the winds are really picking up. here, the winds are really picking unm— picking up. terrifying prosraect. _ picking up. terrifying prospect, so - picking up. terrifying prospect, so many. picking up. terrifying - prospect, so many people picking up. terrifying _ prospect, so many people have had to evacuate, give us a sense of how the community there is coping.—

there is coping. well, there have been _ there is coping. well, there have been a _ there is coping. well, there have been a number- there is coping. well, there have been a number of- have been a number of evacuation centres set up but we've seen pictures of people out from a convalescent home, for example, beyond doubt in the middle of the night. very confused and bewildered and scared and taken to these emergency centres. 37,000 people in total were evacuated last night and the evacuation order was recently extended to parts of santa monica and another upscale resort shows down the coastline here but clearly, a very worrying situation stop i spoke to one man who is a street writer and actor, his been evacuated last night with 30 minutes notice and he returned to his home today to find that he was the only one on the street that was

still standing. he went to the local church and described the city as a rune skate. remarkable. give us an idea on the whipping wins continuing, they are expected to die anytime soon?— they are expected to die anytime soon? no, that's the problem. _ anytime soon? no, that's the problem, really. _ anytime soon? no, that's the problem, really. they - anytime soon? no, that's the problem, really. they are - problem, really. they are expected to pick up as the week goes on. these have been some of the biggest wind storms, federation —— voracious windstorms that we've ever witnessed and they have really been at the centre of this corral them, if you'd like into one particular area of this entire disaster, whipping these been at the centre of this entire disaster, whipping these flames are in different flames are in different directions, making it impossible for firefighters to directions, making it impossible for firefighters to combat them and indeed even to combat them and indeed even to corral them, combat them and indeed even to corralthem, if combat them and indeed even to corral them, combat them and indeed even to corralthem, if combat them and indeed even to corral them, if you'd like into one particular area. corral them, if you'd like into one particular area.

corralthem, if you'd like into one particular area.— one particular area. david willis reported, _ one particular area. david willis reported, thank - one particular area. david| willis reported, thank you one particular area. david i willis reported, thank you so much for that update. a short while ago, i spoke to someone who has had to evacuate from their home, maryam zar. she lives in the pacific palisades and previously served as vice—chair of the pacific palisades community council. she joins us now from redondo beach, california, which is about 25 miles south of the pacific palisades. it is unbelievable. so today is the first full day where people are waking up to the reality, my phone and i assume the telephones of many people have been a light, with sharing information, gathering what they can, sharing with the network and it goes from there. there is no good news, some people have been able to drive into the whether it's

remains standing, whether it's in our commercial district which we called the village, the palisades village which is an adorable little sweet little old town. that's historic and sweet at the same time, it's sweet at the same time, its modern and historic at the same time, there is almost nothing there. people's homes have been down, people have been sharing pictures, snapshots with nothing but the skeleton standing. there are famous trees, not so famous trees, neighbourhoods that we know people or historic and have significant and they all just done. significant and they all 'ust done. ~ . , significant and they all 'ust done. ~ ., , i, ., done. was there any type of woman that _ done. was there any type of woman that something - done. was there any type of woman that something like | done. was there any type of. woman that something like this could happen?— could happen? well, yes, we live in this — could happen? well, yes, we live in this little _ could happen? well, yes, we live in this little community l live in this little community thatis live in this little community that is that we always take nestled between the pacific ocean and the santa monica mountain range, it's a community of the hillside street, also a lot of lights but many hillside neighbourhoods. we are in the

very high fire severity so—and—so lafd classifies us within the very high severity zone. we interface with our state and county leaders when it comes to things that have to do with fire safety because we know that this is where we live. so, in our minds, i would say that every single palace 80 and has some sort of warning sign that is going on because we know we live here. i was talking to someone early and say, what you do when you evacuate an asset, . .. we asset,... we are going to break into them _ asset,... we are going to break into them is _ asset,... we are going to break into them is this _ asset,... we are going to break into them is this press - into them is this press conference on the vade that my very latest. and following that, we will hear from very latest. and following that, we will hearfrom general manager as well as superintendent. the mayor will come back to the podium and opening it up for questions, i will call on questions from the left and without, here is the major.

left and without, here is the ma'or. ,., ., left and without, here is the ma'or. , ., major. good evening. i stand here today — major. good evening. i stand here today with _ major. good evening. i stand here today with incredible . here today with incredible sympathy and concern about the devastation and the tragedy that our city and county are facing and i definitely want to send my condolences to the families who lost loved ones, to the families and neighbourhoods who lost property. this firestone —— firestorm is the big one in magnitude. hurricane force winds are accompanied by rainstorms but this one, this hurricane forster wins that are combined with extremely dry drought to provide context, at 10:20am yesterday, the palisades fire was at ten acres, 12 minutes later, it was at 200 acres. to those who fled their homes, especially those who have lost your homes, our

hearts are breaking for you and we stand with you. i know the world is looking at images of our cities devastation, i've seenin our cities devastation, i've seen in frontlines of the palisades fire and it is staggering. i've been in constant contact with our fire commanders, with county state and federal officials, i took the fastest row back which included being on a military plane which facilitated our communications so i was able to be on the phone the entire time of the flight stop we are fighting for you and everyone in los angeles. thank you to our first responders who waited in the flames, pulled people from cars and got them to safety, no matter how dangerous. and thank you to everyone who heeded our warnings to evacuate. tonight, more people may get evacuation orders and if they do, please

leave immediately. if you have an evacuation warning, get ready to go. protect yourself and each other and support our firefighters on the frontlines. 0ur firefighters on the frontlines. our strategy included preparations and 0ur strategy included preparations and pre— deployment and it now includes fire crews from around the state and from our federal partners. we are also adapting in real—time, these wins continue to blow. so let me be clear. i'm making sure that we leave no resource untapped, firefighters are now on seen from across the state and across the country. i spoke with president biden today and governor newson early today and they assured me of a full federal and state support. as we head into tonight, we are still facing strong and erratic wins and palisades and in sylmar, we are very much in an active firefight. i can report

to you that the woodley fire however, in the basin, is under control. i can also report that finally, our operations have resumed and that's a big deal but it is up to the winds as to how long the air support can continue. but these conditions are highly volatile. we have seen a devastating fire in the pasadena error, fires have spiked up in simi valley and on the la and ventura county line and as our firefighters do battle on the frontlines, all of us must be vigilant. so, if you receive an evacuation order, please leave immediately. if you receive a warning, get ready, protect yourself and protect each other. and do not divert firefighters from our strategy. signals are out on the roads have degree. so stay off the roads unless you are evacuating i have another emergency. be

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