It's just dust' Angelenos tell of frantic evacuations and homes destroyed

The sun glared red as it sank into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, casting an orange hue over the carnage smouldering on the southern Californian coast.

- Gabrielle Canon

It will be a day not soon forgotten in Los Angeles, which by evening was flanked by catastrophic wildfires in nearly all directions.

It is too early to determine the full extent of the destruction caused by the blazes, but in the neighbourhoods bordering the Palisades fire it was clear the impact was enormous. Throughout the day, phones of those living in nearby communities sounded warnings when mandatory evacuation lines were extended as the wind-fuelled fires continued to spread. Exhausted residents, including some who had already fled once before, raced again to escape the danger.

One man, taking refuge in an upscale Brentwood eatery, called the signal "the soundtrack of the week". He had just learned that his home was among those that had been lost in the Palisades fire, still raging through the canyons above Santa Monica and Malibu.

Some residents ventured back to areas the fire had already swept through, where brick chimneys were left looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles. The remnants of a tattered and scorched American flag flapped from a pole.

Oliver Allnatt, 36, wore ski goggles and a face mask with a filter as he took pictures of the ruins. He said: "I had just come from my family home where my mother lives that was burned to a crisp... And then I came up to my home and - same thing. It's completely dust, basically just a chimney stack and a pile of ash. I mean, it's something out of a movie."