Los Angeles fire deaths at 10 as National Guard called in

Authorities in Los Angeles reported that at least 10 people had been killed by massive wildfires that destroyed entire neighborhoods and forced thousands of residents to flee, as California’s National Guard soldiers prepared to go to the streets to help put an end to the chaos.

The state fire service reported that over 10,000 buildings had been burned, leaving significant areas of the second-largest city in the United States in ruins on Friday.

“I lost everything. “I lost everything when my house burned down,” Hester Callul, who had fled her Altadena home and arrived at a shelter, said.

Thanks to a brief break in the winds, firefighters were fighting several fires with the assistance of water-dropping helicopters as the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reported that ten people had died.

Los Angeles County imposed a midnight curfew in response to reports of looting, and the state’s National Guard was available to patrol the impacted neighborhoods.

According to Governor Gavin Newsom, the service soldiers were a part of a state staff deployment that numbered in the thousands.

“We’re throwing everything at our disposal — including our National Guard service members — to protect communities in the days to come,” he said.

“And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.”

Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County warned that his police were patrolling evacuation zones and will make arrests of anyone who shouldn’t have been there.

According to the state fire agency, the fire has so far scorched almost 35,000 acres (14,160 hectares) in Los Angeles.

Evacuees were afraid that not enough was being done because so much of the area was burned, and some were taking matters into their own hands.

After spotting strange people in the middle of the night, Nicholas Norman set up an armed vigil at his house.

“I did the classic American thing: I went and got my shotgun and I sat out there, and put a light on so they knew people were there,” he told AFP.