LOS ANGELES - The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Jan 11, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.

Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighbourhoods since Jan 7 have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.

The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Jan 10 night. But the Palisades fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged towards the Brentwood neighbourhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast,” LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.

The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has razed whole neighbourhoods to the ground, leaving just the smouldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and possessions.

Before the latest flare-up, firefighters had reported progress in subduing the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire in the foothills east of the metropolis after it burned out of control for days. On Jan 10 night, the Palisades fire was 8 per cent contained and the Eaton fire 3 per cent, state agency Cal Fire said.

The two big fires combined had consumed 14,100 hectares - 2-1/2 times the land area of Manhattan.

Some 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in place for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Seven neighbouring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph (32 kmh), gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph.

“It’s not as gusty, so that should help firefighters,” NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions were still critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.

Cal Fire said there was a chance o...