California Fire:10,000 Structures, 30,000 Acres Destroyed, 21 Arrested (X image @PopBase)

California, US: Several major fires are burning down in Los Angeles. At least 10 people were killed and tens of thousands were evacuated. The actual number of deaths will remain unclear until the neighbourhood becomes safe for the investigators to look. As many as 10,000 structures and more than 30,000 acres have been destroyed in the fires, said a media report.

The Palisades fire and Eaton fire are reported to be the most devastating ones among the several other fires in Los Angeles County.

One person has been taken into custody for causing the Kenneth fire, one among the several fires of Los Angeles. Kenneth Fire has spread over 800 acres and continues to rip through Ventura County, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told reporters Thursday night.

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The arrested suspect is a homeless man in his 30s, as per media reports.

At least 20 people were arrested Wednesday and Thursday morning for looting homes damaged or destroyed by the catastrophic wildfires ripping through the City of Angels, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Some 130,000 Californians have been under evacuation orders from the multiple major fires, which include the Palisades Fire west of Los Angeles, the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, and the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills, said the New York Times.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the first fire started in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles at 10:30 am (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday. Probe is still underway trying to find out the exact trigger for the worst firestorm in recent memory, but a combination of factors might have created conditions optimal for a fire.

While it is nearly common in California to have wildfires during June and July, and they can run until October, the blaze has defied the calendar this year, erupting in January—the coldest of the winter months.

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After Palisades, the blaze rapidly spread through other neighbourhoods. The second fire broke out in Eaton, and a third fire, called the Hurst fire, also broke out the same day in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles.

Five more fires broke out in California on Wednesday: the Lidia, Sunset, and Woodley fires in Los Angeles; the Olivas fire in Ventura; and the Tyler fire in Riverside. On Friday it was reported that a new fire—the Kenneth fire—had also broken out in West Hills, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley. The near-hurricane force in the region is causing the blaze to leap from one place to another at a rapid pace.