AFP :
Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles have killed at least 10 people, authorities said, as California’s National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder.
News of the growing toll, announced late Thursday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, came as swaths of the United States’ second-largest city lay in ruins.
A vast firefighting operation continued into the night, bolstered by water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds, even as new fires continued to spring up.
With reports of looting, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said a nighttime curfew was planned, and the state’s National Guard was on hand to patrol affected areas.
Governor Gavin Newsom said the service members were part of a thousands-strong deployment of state personnel.
“We’re throwing everything at our disposal — including our National Guard service members — to protect communities in the days to come,” he said.
“And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.”
Luna said his officers were patrolling evacuation zones and would arrest anyone who was not supposed to be there.
But with such a huge area scorched by the fires, evacuees feared not enough was being done and some were taking matters into their own hands.
Nicholas Norman mounted an armed vigil at his home after seeing suspicious characters in the middle of the night.
“I did the classic American thing: I went and got my shotgun and I sat out there, and put a light on so they knew people were there,” he told AFP.
The biggest of the multiple blazes has ripped through almost 20,000 acres (8,800 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while another fire around Altadena has torched 13,700 acres.
Firefighters said they were starting to get a handle on the Pacific Palisades blaze, with six percent of its perimeter contained — meaning it can’t spread any further in that direction.
But after a lull, winds were returning and new fires continued to erupt.
One flared near Calabasas and the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, late Thursday.
The Kenneth Fire exploded to almost 1,000 acres within hours, forcing more people from their homes, with over 180,000 now displaced.
