California fires live: Los Angeles fighting largest blaze in its history amid water and firefighting shortages

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Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from the wildfires raging though Los Angeles County.

A home burns during the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Apu Gomes/Getty Images

Vehicles and a house burn as powerful winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area force people to evacuate, at the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

More than 20 patients were treated at UCLA Health hospitals for fire-related injuries as of Wednesday 11am local time, NBC is reporting, citing officials.

One patient remained hospitalized in critical condition, it said.

Patients suffering from asthma and heart attacks are showing up in emergency rooms at a time when hospitals are already full because of flu season, Dr Puneet Gupta, assistant medical director for the Los Angeles County fire department, said.

“We have a number of hospitals threatened, and if they have to be evacuated, it could become a crisis,” said Gupta, Associated Press reported.

The Hurst fire, which began last night in the San Fernando valley, has now grown to more than 700 acres, according to the Angeles National Forest.

The fire is 0% contained. At least 3,000 residents have been evacuated, according to fire officials.

Even in a state that’s become grimly accustomed to severe conflagrations, the rapid surge of wildfire that has torched the Los Angeles area has been shocking, triggering mass evacuations that have left behind charred suburban homes.

Along with strong winds reaching up to 100mph (161 km/h), recent conditions in southern California have added literal fuel to the fire.

This winter has been exceptionally dry, with much of southern California locked in drought. This means that there are plenty of trees, grasses and shrubs to catch fire and most of them are parched of water, meaning they combust more readily.

LA mayor says impact of fires 'devastating'

Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, described the impact of the fires and winds affecting the area as “devastating”.

In a statement posted to X, Bass said she spoke to the president, Joe Biden, where they discussed an “urgent path forward towards recovery for the thousands of families impacted”.

Bass has come under criticism for being out of the country as wildfires tear through parts of southern California.

She was part of a US delegation to Accra for the inauguration of the president of Ghana, John Mahama.

Karen Bass with Gavin Newsom, the governor, in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday. Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA

The Los Angeles metro has suspended fares for the remainder of the day.

In an update posted a short while ago, LA County supervisor Janice Hahn said metro services have been impacted by evacuation orders near the Easton fire.

“Given the extraordinary demands on the power grid and sporadic outages in numerous areas, we recognize it is difficult for many customers to buy and load their TAP cards at stations,” she said.

Residents of Los Angeles fled deadly wildfires engulfing the city’s suburbs, as firefighters struggled to contain the flames overnight amid fears they would worsen.

Tanner Charles posted this footage to X, saying it showed “the moment my friend and I abandoned his house after we tried to save what we could”.

“Please be praying for him and his family,” Charles wrote.

More than 1.5m homes without power in California

About 1.5 million residents are without power in California, with nearly a million of them in Los Angeles county, according to PowerOutage.us, as wildfires continue to rage across the region.

Palisades fire grows to more than 15,000 acres

The Palisades fire, which is the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles’ history, has increased in size yet again – now encompassing 15,832 acres.

The fire is confirmed to have destroyed 300 structures thus far, according to CalFire.

It is one of a number of fires raging in the Los Angeles area – stretching the resources of firefighting teams.

The US president, Joe Biden, has approved a major disaster declaration for California – directing the Department of Defense to deploy extra firefighting personnel to tackle the life-threatening blazes.

Here’s a recap of what else has happened today so far:

• At least two people were killed in the Eaton fire, north of Pasadena which has grown to 10,600 acres and has destroyed more than 100 structures. There have also been “a number of significant injuries”, fire officials said, and “tens of thousands of homes” are affected. About 32,500 residents were under evacuation orders, a drop from the more than 50,000 residents evacuated overnight.

• The Hurst fire, in the San Fernando Valley, is close to 500 acres after erupting on Tuesday night. More than 3,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate the area in Sylmar.

• All Los Angeles fire department air operations in the Palisades have resumed after being grounded due to extreme weather conditions. LAFD helicopters are back to dropping water and hundreds of firefighters continue to be on the scene to help respond to the Palisades fire and Hurst fire, said LA’s mayor, Karen Bass.

• Officials are urging residents across the region to conserve water so there is enough for firefighters to use. Demand was so high that three tanks emptied by Wednesday morning, causing some fire hydrants to dry out.

• California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. President Joe Biden warned the recovery “is going to take time” as he attended a briefing with Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station. President-elect Donald Trump blamed Newsom’s environmental policies for the fires.