LA fire still spreading

FORECASTERS: GUSTS OF WIND MAY KEEP BLAZE GOING FOR DAYS MORE

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Firefighters fought on into the night on Saturday in a bid to get on top of massive wildfires around Los Angeles as winds ramped up, pushing the blazes towards previously untouched neighbourhoods.

At least 16 people were now confirmed dead from fires that have ripped through the city, leaving communities in ruins and testing the mettle of thousands of firefighters - and millions of California residents.

Despite heroic efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire continued to grow on Saturday, pushing east towards the priceless collections of the Getty Centre art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.

"We're nervous wrecks," Sarah Cohen told the Los Angeles Times of the threat to her Tarzana home. "Every time they drop water, it gets better. But then it gets worse again."

Footage from the Mandeville Canyon area showed one home consumed, with a wall of flame licking up a hillside to menace others.