an aerial attack on the enormous palisades fire, which is menacing brentwood, one of la's most exclusive neighbourhoods. winds are picking up again, strengthening the flames. a further 166,000 people are being warned they might have to leave. and calls to sack the uk treasury secretary because she's been named in a corruption investigation in bangladesh. welcome to bbc news. it's four the morning in los angeles where firefighters are continuing to battle the wildfires that have destroyed huge swathes of the city. the number of people killed has risen to 16, and a dozen are missing after five days of the devastating fires.

the two biggest blazes remain largely uncontained, and more strong winds are forecast over the coming days. those two fires have destroyed an area more than twice the size of new york's manhattan. no cause has yet been established for the fires. firefighters have made some progress against the worst of the infernos, the palisades fire, which has scorched more than 35 square miles. it's11% contained, which means barriers or firebreaks have been placed around 11% of its perimeter. the palisades fire is now threatening brentwood, one of la's most exclusive neighbourhoods, where arnold schwarzenegger and basketball star lebronjames have homes. there've been dramatic scenes of aircraft dropping thousands of gallons of fire retardant on the hills and scrub in an attempt to put out the blazes. but if the winds do pick up it will be harder to get those aircraft and helicopters into the air.

more than 12,000 homes and other buildings have been destroyed. the second—biggest blaze, the eaton fire, has destroyed more than 20 square miles and is 15% contained. firefighters have mostly contained two smaller blazes, the kenneth and hurst fires. but the national weather service warned that the santa ana winds that whipped up the fires at the outset would increase again this weekend. and also, into monday and tuesday. seven neighbouring states, the federal government and canada and mexico have sent resources to california. our first report is from helena humphrey who's in la. still the fires grow, hungry and unrelenting, as firefighters remain locked

in a battle against nature's fury. from the sky, it's an all—out assault to keep the largest of these deadly wildfires in the pacific palisades from spreading any further, bombarding the flaming hills with water and fire retardant. meanwhile, on the ground, the national guard out in force and a night—time curfew is in effect to clamp down on those profiting from the chaos. a lot of crime, a lot of people trying to to steal things, but if you protect yourself and yourfamily... i mean, i have to be there to protect my wife, my son, my kids, my mom and i cannot even go and see them. i've been in this street for three days. luckily, my sister lives down the street or else, i'd end up in the streets. but this unprecedented crisis is also bringing out the best in humanity. at a local shelter in pasadena, volunteers are caring for more than a50 animals, dropped off by evacuees orfound wandering amid the destruction. others who escaped with only the clothes on their backs are desperately searching

for the beloved pets they lost in the scramble to get out. survivors here have lost everything, entire homes reduced to rubble. and with days of winds now forecast, it's a race against time to stop these fires from spreading further. los angeles knows it needs all the help it can get and with a change of administration looming in washington, local officials say they've yet to hear from the incoming president. i wrote a letter to president—elect trump, inviting him to engage in wildfire recovery efforts and to visit the county to see the impact first—hand that it has on every socio—economic individual in this county. for now, it is all hands on deck. firefighting crews have arrived from across the united states, with mexico and canada sending in battle—tested teams of their own. they know that any pick—up in the now—notorious santa ana winds could wipe out their hard—won progress in an instant.

we have this update from china, our cbs correspondent. this is home in the pacific palisades neighbourhood where we are today. it neighbourhood where we are toda . , . , ., neighbourhood where we are toda. , ., ., today. it is really hard to imagine. _ today. it is really hard to imagine, because - today. it is really hard to| imagine, because burning today. it is really hard to - imagine, because burning down, because that is twisted metal. they went, that has been the big story. firefighters had a bigger chance to get ahead and said that they had made progress in the palisades fire, the largest fire. they have been attacking this fire on the ground but more importantly, in the air, i've seen no shots with helicopters and tankers and fighter planes dropping

water one after another and trying to get a handle on this fire. the winds were calm for much of yesterday but late yesterday into today, it has been picking up. the largest fire, the palisades fire, as you mention, 11% contained and it is already burning over 20,000 acres. a really widespread fire, giving such a talented firefighters. this has been an international effort, planes capable of dropping water flown in from canada and just yesterday, a number of firefighters from mexico were flown in tojoin firefighters from mexico were flown in to join this fight. when you are there talking to people who have just lost absolutely everything, the sense of shock must be absolutely overwhelming. it’s absolutely overwhelming. it's reall is absolutely overwhelming. it's really is hard _ absolutely overwhelming. it�*s really is hard to put into words that when people come to these neighbourhoods. we are just about a block from the

iconic sunset divide, it is —— iconic sunset divide, it is —— iconic sunset divide, it is —— iconic sunset boulevard, which is in movies, if you have been to california, it is a beautiful street which runs through the pacific palisades with multi million dollar homes surrounding it. it is an idyllic place to live and one of the most expensive pieces of real estate, not only in california but across the country. talking to people returning, they left of their neighbourhoods on fire add returning, their homes are unrecognisable. people were not sure if this was their home, they were looking at their home saying that this is the address but it was so unrecognisable that it but it was so unrecognisable thatitis but it was so unrecognisable that it is just hard to put into words, what these people are going through. it is only natural must be would you come back to their homes, they are going to want to try and sift through the rubble here but leaders are urging people not

to. this is because this ash may contain lead, arsenic and other harmful continues. $1150 other harmful continues. also concerns about _ other harmful continues. also concerns about air— other harmful continues. also concerns about air quality. just in terms of the blame game because we know that the la fire department, the head of the la fire department has been really criticising the la mayor for approving budget cuts to the fire department. where are we with that because it is not as clear as that, is it?- as clear as that, is it? there has been — as clear as that, is it? there has been a _ as clear as that, is it? there has been a lot _ as clear as that, is it? there has been a lot of— as clear as that, is it? there has been a lot of finger - has been a lot of finger pointing thus far, creating some anger amongst people and they need a unified front right now. yesterday, officials here, the mayor and the fire chief put on a united front, speaking publicly for the first time together, trying to guide people through such an awful tragedy here. there has been some issues of why the fire department's budget was quite

by millions of dollars. the fire chief says that she has been sounding the alarm, leading up to this way and that ultimately, this should be the loudest alarm for the mayor and other officials here, that they do need help and resources. that was cbs news correspondent charlie, who was in the pacific palisades area. that was the worst affected area. we can cross over at live to los angeles. let's speak with representative george whitesides, a congressman from california. while comb, you welcome california's 27th district and thatis california's 27th district and that is the northern parts of north and it is —— welcome, you represent california's 27th district. can you give us an insight on what is happening on the ground in your district. we have been _ the ground in your district. - have been relatively lucky and the amazing firefighters of our community have been able to contain the highest fire as well as a numberfire, a little

north of here. so far, the fai has not caused widespread structural damage as you seen in the catastrophic images from the palisades and from the eaton fire.— the palisades and from the eatonfire. ~ ., ., , eaton fire. we know forecasts are that this _ eaton fire. we know forecasts are that this fire _ eaton fire. we know forecasts are that this fire spreading . eaton fire. we know forecasts are that this fire spreading so | are that this fire spreading so quickly. what kinds of measures i put in place with this district ahead of monday and tuesday one those winds are due to rise? ., ., .,. , to rise? you are exactly right. we are not — to rise? you are exactly right. we are not to _ to rise? you are exactly right. we are not to be _ to rise? you are exactly right. we are not to be the - to rise? you are exactly right. we are not to be the thing - to rise? you are exactly right. | we are not to be the thing and have many days left to go. there are stronger winds last night and tonight, it is still in the evening here. we have bought from monday until wednesday and were telling everyone that they need to stay alert and have their bag ready and need to be paying close attention to credible new source and other applications like the watch duty app which give people a really good, quick sense of when they need

to be ready to leave their homes and switch back and that's very unfortunate circumstance.- that's very unfortunate circumstance. ., ., circumstance. are all of those alert systems _ circumstance. are all of those alert systems are _ circumstance. are all of those alert systems are working? i circumstance. are all of those | alert systems are working? we know that at the beginning of all of these things, in those initial days, lats were going to the wrong people. are you confident that that is all sorted out now? —— i lights will go into the wrong people. authorities as saying that this is all sorted out now. we need to make sure that there are pay attention to multiple new stories we've been is seeing very good reporting from the television in los angeles who have been doing a greatjob with staying up—to—date with all it this and i do recommend going directly to the la fire county new sites and to this application, watch duty, a nonprofit group and has experienced massive growth. millions of people are now using it in los angeles to stay up using it in los angeles to stay up to date in sight with this fire. ., , , �* ., .,

fire. honestly, you've got an absolutely — fire. honestly, you've got an absolutely catastrophic - absolutely catastrophic situation on the ground. when it comes to finger pointing and the brain blame, we have missing fingers being pointed. we know that the head of the la fire department has been criticising the la mayorfor approving the budget cut to the fire department but help us to understand where we are with those budget cuts because my understanding was that when the final budget was approved, the la fire department was up by nearly $60 million. can you help clarify what is factually correct here?— help clarify what is factually correct here? yes. i am not an exert correct here? yes. i am not an expert on — correct here? yes. i am not an expert on the _ correct here? yes. i am not an expert on the la _ correct here? yes. i am not an expert on the la city _ correct here? yes. i am not an expert on the la city budget . expert on the la city budget but i do understand that they were two pieces to the fire department budget and when you add them up together in some way, they added up to a moderate increase in the budget. i think the main thing here is that we need to have a national conversation about how

western communities like los angeles and many others in the american west are going to protect their cities from the threat of catastrophic wildfires. this is something that i have been talking about for many years and we know what to do, but it would take a lot of money and will take a lot of effort and will take a lot of people. unfortunately, this terrible tragedy, i hope, is what is going to help us do what is going to help us do what we have to do. obviously, ou're what we have to do. obviously, you're going — what we have to do. obviously, you're going to _ what we have to do. obviously, you're going to be _ what we have to do. obviously, you're going to be dealing - what we have to do. obviously, you're going to be dealing with| you're going to be dealing with children who are —— people who are in trauma, people who have lost their lives, people who have lost absolutely everything. i speaking to insurance companies, showing that some kind of payout will be potentially be happening? it that's what we are seeing on the ground is just insurmountable in terms of what people have lost. it is heartbreaking - people have lost. it is heartbreaking and - people have lost. it 3 heartbreaking and catastrophic. every family has lost a home,

it is absolutely heartbreaking situation. there will be literally thousands, potentially over 10,000 families like that. we are working hard to begin the conversation around insurance, as you say, the california fire insurance market was already shaky fitting before this event and now, no one knows exactly where things are going to go. i guess that the main thing is that we put in place measures to enable protection and ensures going forward. we were having insurers leaving the states and reducing their coverage across the state and this is going to make a somewhat difficult situation even worse now. absolutely. it reall , even worse now. absolutely. it really. such — even worse now. absolutely. it really. such a _ even worse now. absolutely. it really, such a scale, _ even worse now. absolutely. it really, such a scale, really - really, such a scale, really difficult to watch. representing california's 27th district, it is good to know at least one fire is contained. thank you so much for your time. . ~ thank you so much for your

time. ., ~' ,, mexico has sent firefighters to assist in combating the wildfires, as local officials seek to draft in more help from across the us. two planeloads of more than 70 firefighters, along with their equipment, landed in los angeles international airport on saturday, where they were greeted by california's governor gavin newsom, here's what he said. this is what friends do. this is what relationships are all about, friends in need being there for one anothe