The wildfires raging in Los Angeles, California, a city of 13 million residents, has so far burned thousands of acres of land, killed at least 24 people anddestroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures, making it one of the worst fires in LA history.

There are four major fires burning around the city, the biggest one being the Palisades fire, was contained at 11 per cent and the Eaton Fire at 27 per cent on Sunday. The Kenneth Fire, which broke out near West Hills in the San Fernando Valley, was 100 per cent contained as of Sunday morning, while the Hurst Fire was 89 per cent contained.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 80 kilometres per hour and gusts in the mountains reaching 113 kilometres per hour. The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson.

Eight of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said in a statement Sunday evening. About 1,50,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters

To understand the area of damage, a news report stated that it was larger than the city of San Francisco.

The fire in Los Angeles started in Palisades which is located on the Pacific Ocean and the blaze rapidly spread through other neighbourhoods on January 7 morning. Around 6 pm on the same day, a second fire broke out in Eaton, while the third, Hurst fire, broke out hours later in Sylmar of San Fernando Valley.

BY Outlook Sports Desk

California saw five more fires break out on Wednesday namely Lidia, Sunset and Woodley fires in LA, Olivas fire in Ventura and the Tyler fire in Riverside. A sixth one, the Kenneth fire, started on Friday in West Hills.

There has been no official indication of what caused the raging wildfires in California. Investigators are considering an array of reasons including dry weather after wet weather, the rough Santa Ana winds, and other manmade reasons such as utility lines, arsons. The National Fire Protection Association has ruled out lightning as a trigger since the weather was mostly dry.

A report by the US Environmental Protection Agency stated that climate change has contributed to an increase in "frequency, season length and burned area of wildfires".

The wildfires are being driven by Santa Ana winds, which are hot, dry winds common in the area. The dry desert air moves from the interior to the coast, lowering humidity and dehydrating vegetation. This makes plants more vulnerable to fire, as they become highly flammable. In these conditions, even a small spark, such as from a cigarette, vehicle, or power line, can easily ignite a fire.

A study published in the journal Nature states that the rapid weather changes in California can be identified as a 'weather whiplash' due to fossil fuel pollution that is heating up the earth and leading to the severity of the hazards like wildfires.

Daniel Swain, climate scientist for the California Institute for Water Resources was quoted by Euro News saying, "There is a clear link between climate change and the more frequent dry falls and winters that provide fuel for fires."

Last winter’s heavy storms in California caused a surge in plant growth, resulting in what Swain estimated to be double the usual amount of vegetation for the region. The dry weather this winter with more trees and vegetation led to an uncontrollable wildfire in the area.

The next two most common causes are fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines.

John Lentini, owner of Scientific Fire Analysis in Florida, who has investigated large fires in California including the Oakland Hills fire in 1991, told AP that the size and scope of the blaze doesn't change the approach to finding out what caused it.

California is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Its Mediterranean climate already has extreme weather, with dry summers and most rain in the winter. Even small changes in weather patterns can lead to major floods or severe droughts in the state.

The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage, but private firms have estimated it will climb into the tens of billions.

The fires are still burning but early estimates indicate the losses so far could make the wildfires the nation's costliest ever. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion.

“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.

Allegations of leadership failures and political blame have begun and so have investigations. Gov Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants ran dry, calling it “deeply troubling.”

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water.

“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there's going to be water,” she said.

LA Mayor Karen Bass, who faces a critical test of her leadership as her city endures its greatest crisis in decades, said several smaller fires also were stopped.

Water shortages in the Palisades have dried out some fire hydrants.

Janisse Quinones, the chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told a media conference that Pacific Palisades depends on three tanks containing about a million gallons (3.78 million litres) each.

Quinones added that the demand for water to extinguish fires at lower elevations was creating difficulty in refilling water tanks at higher elevations.

According to an LA Times report, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) and other local water utilities faced immense pressure as firefighters tried to use large amounts of water for long periods.

Martin Adams, former general manager of DWP, told the LA Times that the city's water systems were never built to handle firefighting needs of this size. "The system has never been designed to fight a wildfire that then envelops a community," Adams said.

President-elect Donald Trump has blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom for the wildfires devastating the Los Angeles area, claiming that Newsom refused to sign a water restoration declaration that would have increased water flow into California.

Trump in a post shared on the social media platform Truth Social wrote, "Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way."

"He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn't work!), but didn't care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, and no firefighting planes. A true disaster," he added.

Further also blaming outgoing president Joe Biden, Trump stated, "NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!"

Hollywood actor Mel Gibson who has lost his Malibu home in the fire, targeting Governor Newsom said, “I lost my home in the Los Angeles wildfires. There’s nothing left. It’s a devastating feeling. My message to Governor Gavin Newsom is that maybe he should spend less money on hair gel and more on protecting against such disasters (sic).”

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 440 million-litre reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry.lucky horse

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