• Major fires are burning throughout the Los Angeles area, destroying thousands of buildings.
• Satellite images show flames wreaking havoc on houses and other structures.
• At least five people have died, and more than 100,000 residents were ordered to evacuate Wednesday.

At least five people have died and more than 100,000 have been ordered to evacuate as uncontrolled fires burn through parts of Los Angeles into a third day.

Five separate fires are sweeping through parts of the city and the surrounding areas, with one of the biggest blazes, the Palisades fire, expected to be the costliest in US history.

Satellite images provided to Business Insider by Maxar Technologies show the trail of destruction the fires have left in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, two of the most heavily affected areas.

Houses burned to the ground in Altadena

Satellite images show houses burned down in the Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles, one of the areas most affected by the Eaton fire.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as of 3 a.m. Thursday local time, the fire had burned 10,600 acres in the area and continued to grow with 0% containment.

Palisades fire burning through western Los Angeles

Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, has also been devastated.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Palisades fire had consumed about 17,234 acres with 0% containment as of 4 a.m. Thursday.

The Palisades fire alone has already become the most destructive fire ever to hit Los Angeles County, CNN reported Wednesday, citing Cal Fire data.

East Altadena Drive

Houses and buildings on East Altadena Drive are almost unrecognizable in the image above from Wednesday.

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said during a press conference Wednesday evening that residents could receive more evacuation orders as wind conditions continued to be "strong and erratic."

In an X post in the early hours of Thursday, she said firefighters would be working throughout the night to battle the blazes.

Tuna Canyon Road closed until further notice

Tuna Canyon Road, which connects Malibu and Topanga, was covered in smoke Wednesday, and fires burned through nearby buildings.

In an X post on Wednesday night, the California Department of Transportation said highways were fully closed at various locations because of fires or wind-related incidents.

Meanwhile, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft were offering free rides to evacuation centers.

A historic windstorm

The fires are still burning, and satellite imagery from Wednesday showed the scale of the fires in Altadena.

The National Weather Service called the windstorm "life-threatening and destructive."

Courtney Carpenter, a warning-coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said the fires would likely continue over the coming days.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she said, pointing to winds expected to continue through Friday afternoon and dry weather conditions.

Correction: January 9, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of a warning-coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service. She's Courtney Carpenter, not Courtney Carpen.

• Multiple major fires are tearing through parts of the Los Angeles area.
• The Palisades fire has burned through over 17,000 acres as of Thursday morning.
• A new fire broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills.

Emergency personnel across the Los Angeles area are battling multiple major fires.

Officials have ordered over 130,000 people to evacuate, five people have been reported dead, and over a thousand structures have been destroyed.

Images of people escaping their homes, abandoning their cars, and searching for safe harbor spread across television and social media on Wednesday.

And it's showing little sign of slowing down, officials said. Dry conditions combined with high wind gusts of more than 90 miles per hour have helped fuel the multiple fires burning around the metropolitan area.

Five separate fires are now sweeping through parts of the region in and around Los Angeles after a new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills, near the iconic Hollywood sign, on Wednesday evening. The fire forced the LA fire chief to leave in the middle of a press conference.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a press conference Wednesday evening that residents may receive more evacuation orders as wind conditions continue to be "strong and erratic."

In an X post in the early hours of Thursday morning, Bass said firefighters would be working through the night battling blazes in Los Angeles for the second night in a row.

"Our entire town appears to be gone," one Palisades resident told Business Insider.

According to AccuWeather's preliminary estimates, the cost of the fires could reach almost $60 billion.

Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather's chief meteorologist, said it's already one of the worst wildfires in California history.

Ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft have offered free rides to evacuation centers for Los Angeles residents.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that his company will be providing "free Starlink terminals to affected areas."

Schools in Los Angeles will be closed on Thursday, impacting more than half a million students, LA Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.

The Eaton fire, impacting the Pasadena-Altadena region, has burned about 10,600 acres and continues to grow with 0% containment, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a press conference on Wednesday. The Hurst fire, in the north of the region near San Fernando, covers over 700 acres.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, over 26,978 acres had been burned as of 1:45 a.m. Thursday, with the Palisades Fire burning 17,234 acres, with 0% containment.

Evacuation orders and warnings continued to be issued throughout Wednesday evening, including a notice for residents living near the Hollywood Hills.

Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin said Wednesday afternoon that he hoped milder wind conditions overnight would allow for more aircraft and additional resources to be directed at the Eaton fire.

"That's what gives me confidence that we're going to get a handle on this fire," he said.

By Thursday morning, at least 130,000 people had been evacuated, a representative for CalFire told BI.

Five people have died as a result of the Eaton fire, the spokesperson said. Two firefighters were reported to have minor injuries.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, and announced that the state had secured federal assistance from FEMA to support the fire response.

"There's no fire season. It's fire year," Newsom said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, noting other fires California has faced in recent months, including the Franklin and Mountain fires. "It's year-round."

He issued an executive order on Wednesday evening to provide additional support to communities affected, and told CNN that the death toll was likely to rise.

In an X post in the early hours of Thursday, Newsom said more than 7,500 firefighting personnel, 1,162 fire engines, 6 air tankers, 31 helicopters, and 53 dozers had been deployed.

He also urged Southern California residents to remain vigilant, listen to local officials, and be ready to evacuate if they are near impacted areas.

Historic windstorm is 'worst possible scenario'

Officials have not yet determined how the fires started, but they began during a high-risk major windstorm. Combined with low humidity and dry vegetation in the region, the winds created a perfect storm for fire ignition.

High winds were "making it extremely challenging" for firefighters on the scene, Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley said, leaving them unable to air-drop water onto the fires Wednesday morning. But by the afternoon, water-dropping aircraft had returned to the skies.

The National Weather Service called the windstorm "life-threatening and destructive" and warned that these could be the strongest north winds in 14 years.

The Palisades fire alone has already become the most destructive fire ever to hit Los Angeles County, CNN reported, citing CalFire data.

Courtney Carpen, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said that while the worst winds had passed in southern California, "we're not out of the woods yet."

She said gusty winds are expected to continue through Friday afternoon and weather conditions to remain critically dry.

Tourist landmarks close as smoke chokes LA

The Los Angeles area is a huge tourist draw, attracting nearly 50 million visitors a year.

The fires forced some Los Angeles-area landmarks to close, including the Hollywood sign, the Los Angeles Zoo, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk, and the Griffith Observatory.

Even miles from the fires in South Los Angeles, smoke reduced visibility to just one block, officials said.

Airbnb told CNN that it would be allowing refunds for bookings in areas affected by the wildfires, following a viral social media post from a customer who said the company refused to offer her a refund.

A National Hockey League game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Calgary Flames, scheduled Wednesday night at Crypto.com arena, was postponed.

The 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards, set for Sunday night, were also rescheduled, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Meanwhile, police made arrests for looting in areas affected by the fires, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Wednesday.

Evacuees abandoned cars as traffic stalled

Palisades Drive, the major road out of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, was already packed with slow-moving lines of cars shortly after noon Tuesday, as people evacuated beneath a smoky haze and bright-orange flames licked the hillside in the distance, shown live on ABC7.

CalFire reported that the fire was on both sides of Palisades Drive.

ABC7 spoke to multiple people who were evacuating on foot, including some who had abandoned their cars on the road.

One resident told the news channel that "a whole bunch of neighbors" were stuck in their homes on Palisades Drive.

Jonathan Vigliotti, a CBS News correspondent who was on the ground as a neighborhood went up in flames, said on X that there was "mass panic in the streets."

The City of Pasadena has issued a water alert, advising against using tap water for drinking and cooking in the impacted areas until further notice, saying the water system may be compromised by "debris and elevated turbidity."