At least 24 people have died in the Los Angeles wildfires while forecasters have warned of more fierce winds and fire weather to come.
At least 16 people remain missing, a number authorities said was also likely to rise.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50mph and gusts in the mountains reaching 70mph.
The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, fire behaviour analyst Dennis Burns warned at a community meeting on Sunday.
“It will kind of ebb and flow over the next couple days,” Burns said. “Tomorrow night, it will really ramp up.”
Spotting – new fires caused by blowing embers – could happen as far as two miles (3.2 kilometres) or more downwind of areas that have already burned, Burns said.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help firefighters fend off flames spread by renewed gusts.
“We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” Marrone said.
Fire retardant dropped by aircraft will act as a barrier along hillsides, officials said.
Fierce Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that levelled entire neighbourhoods around the city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Eight deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 to the Eaton Fire, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Officials also were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed.
In the meantime, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighbourhoods.
“There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public,” Crowley said at a Sunday morning briefing.
“There’s no power, there’s no water, there’s broken gas lines, and we have unstable structures.”
Officials warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.
About 150,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters, Luna said.
Officials said most of the orders in the Palisades area were unlikely to be lifted before the red flag warnings expire Wednesday evening.
The four fires have consumed more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometres), an area larger than San Francisco.
The Palisades Fire was 11% contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27%. Those two blazes alone accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometres).
Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes nearly 1,400 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico.
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