'Red flag' weather Return of strong winds raises alert for more fire

Return of strong winds raises alert for more fire

- Oliver Holmes Dani Anguiano Lois Beckett

Weather forecasters in Los Angeles expect fast, dry winds to return towards the end of the weekend, threatening to fan wildfires that have already destroyed 10,000 structures and killed 10 people.

Urgent "red flag" alerts - meaning critical fire weather conditions - announced by the US National Weather Service (NWS) said moderate to strong wind and low humidity would continue yesterday, as five fires raged across the metropolis.

Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, described the impact of the fires as "total devastation".

"There are areas where everything is gone, there isn't even a stick of wood left," Bruderlin said.

Officials estimate the Palisades fire wiped away at least 5,000 structures, including in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, where mansions lining the beaches were reduced to dust. Buckled trees lay strewn amid still smoldering rubble.