Thousands of acres on fire in LA

Firefighters are struggling to control massive wildfires in Los Angeles that have killed at least 16 people, devoured thousands of buildings and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

The situation is evolving rapidly: these maps and images show the scale of the challenge, where the fires are and the damage they have caused.

The largest fire, in the Pacific Palisades area, is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history. More than 23,000 acres have now burned.

Placing the affected area on maps of New York and London gives a sense of its scale, stretching from Clapham to Greenwich in the British capital, or across large areas of Lower Manhattan and Queens.

Four fires are currently burning in the Los Angeles area.

• Palisades fire: The largest active fire is burning between Santa Monica and Malibu. Area burned: 23,706 acres.

• Eaton fire: Second largest fire north of Pasadena. Area burned: 14,117 acres.

• Kenneth fire: In the West Hills area, just north of the Palisades. Work began Thursday afternoon and has so far burned 1,052 acres.

• Hurst fire: Northeast of the city. Area burned: 799 acres.

But five other fires were brought under control.

Lidia fire: reported in the hills north of Los Angeles. Area burned: 395 acres.

Archer fire: Small fire that broke out Friday and burned 19 acres.

Woodley fire: Small fire reported in a local park. Area burned: 30 acres.

Olives fire: A small fire was first reported in Ventura County, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Area burned: 11 acres.

Sunset Fire: Reported in the historic Hollywood Hills area, near many famous landmarks, including the Hollywood Sign. Area burned: 43 acres.

Officials say more than 10,000 structures were destroyed by the two largest fires — about 5,000 each in the Palisades and Eaton fires.

As the maps below show, the fires are largely burning uninhabited areas, but they have spread to populated areas and many more buildings could be at risk depending on how the infernos spread.

Among the buildings already destroyed in the Palisades fire are many exclusive properties that line the Malibu waterfront.

Drag your cursor over the image below to see an aerial view of what the area used to look like and what it looks like now.

The Palisades and Eaton fires can be seen from space, as shown in the satellite image below.

The combination of an exceptionally dry period – downtown Los Angeles has received only 0.4 cm of rain since October – and powerful offshore gusts known as Santa Ana winds have created favorable conditions to forest fires.

Santa Ana winds blow east to west across the mountains of Southern California, according to the National Weather Service.

As they blow across deserts further inland, they create conditions where humidity decreases, which dries out vegetation. If a fire breaks out, winds can fan the smoldering embers into an inferno within minutes.

The map below shows how quickly the Palisades Fire spread, intensifying within hours. On Tuesday shortly after 2 p.m. it covered 772 acres and within four hours it had almost tripled in size.

The Palisades Fire now covers nearly 20,000 acres and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area as more than 1,400 firefighters attempt to bring the blaze under control.

The Eaton Fire also quickly expanded, growing from about 1,000 acres on Tuesday to more than 13,000 acres, forcing thousands more people to flee.

Photographers also captured the heartbreaking scale of the fire damage on the ground, as demonstrated in these before and after photos.

The Pasadena Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. The Center’s website says it has been in use since 1941 and has a congregation of more than 400 families.

As authorities still work to contain the fires, the scale of the losses are still being felt, but they are on track to be among the costliest in U.S. history, with losses already estimated at more than $135 billion (£109.7 billion).

There’s a glimmer of hope for firefighters as the fire weather forecast in Southern California was downgraded from “extremely critical” to “critical.”

But BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas says there is no rain forecast in the area at least for the next week, so conditions remain ripe for fires.