Thousands of acres are burning in LA

Wildfires are raging in several parts of Los Angeles, with strong winds and extremely dry conditions fueling their progress across thousands of acres of land.

Firefighters have so far been unable to contain the number of them, and one fire official told the BBC on Thursday that they were still growing rapidly.

The largest fire, in the Pacific Palisades area where many celebrities live, is the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles. More than 5,300 buildings were destroyed.

The rapidly changing landscape – these maps and images chart how the fires have spread, where they are located and how they look from space.

Among the buildings that have been destroyed are many special places along the Malibu River.

Slide your cursor over the image above to see an aerial view of what the facility looked like and how it looks now.

Five fires are still burning in the Los Angeles area.

• Palisades fire: A large active fire is burning between Santa Monica and Malibu. Area burned: more than 20,000 hectares. More than 5,300 buildings were destroyed. At least 30,000 people have been evacuated.

• Eaton fire: The second largest fire burning north of Pasadena. Area burned: at least 13,690 hectares. About 4,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Five people died.

• Hurst fire: northeast of the city. Area burned: 850 hectares.

• Lydia fire: Reported in the hills north of Los Angeles. Area burned: 350 hectares.

• Kenneth fire: In the West Hills area, just north of the Palisades. It started on Thursday afternoon and so far it has burned 960 hectares.

Three fires have been contained.

Woodley fire: A small fire was reported in a local park. Hot spot: 30 acres.

Olivas fire: A small fire was first reported in Ventura County about 50 miles (80km) east of Los Angeles. Area burned: 11 hectares.

Sunset fire: Reported in the historic Hollywood Hills area near many famous landmarks, including the Hollywood sign. Area burned: 43 hectares.

The map above shows how quickly the Palisades fire is spreading, intensifying within hours. Just after 14:00 on Tuesday it covered 772 hectares and within four hours it had almost tripled in size.

It now covers nearly 20,000 hectares and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area, as more than 1,400 firefighters battle the blaze.

The Eaton fire also quickly grew from about 1,000 acres on Tuesday to more than 13,000 acres, forcing thousands of people to flee.

Both the Palisades and Eaton fires can be seen from space, as shown in the satellite images below.

As the maps below show, nearly 20,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed already in the two major fires – and many more could be at risk depending on how the fire spreads.

To give an idea of ​​the size of the Palisades fire, we’ve superimposed it on maps of New York and London.

As you can see at 23:00 PST, 8 January, (07:00 GMT, 9 January), it was comparable in size to the area from Clapham to Greenwich in the UK capital, or with large areas in lower Manhattan and Queens. .

The Palisades fire is not the only one that has a negative impact on the Los Angeles area.

These photos show the extent of the damage caused by the Eaton fire in the Altadena area.

The Jewish Temple in Pasadena was destroyed in the Eaton fire. The center’s website says it has been in operation since 1941 and has a congregation of over 400 families.