LOS ANGELES - Winds calmed on Jan 10 around Los Angeles, providing a fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling five major blazes, as official recriminations began over responsibility for the disaster.

At least 10 people have died as flames ripped through neighbourhoods and razed thousands of homes this week in a disaster that US President Joe Biden likened to a “war scene”.

As the scale of the damage to America’s second-biggest city came into focus - one new estimate suggested the bill could hit US$150 billion (S$205 billion) – Los Angeles residents grappled with the heart-rending ruin.

“I lost everything. My house burned down and I lost everything,” Mr Hester Callul, who reached a shelter after fleeing her Altadena home, told AFP.

With fears of looting and crime growing, California Governor Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to bolster law enforcement.

A nighttime curfew has been imposed in evacuated areas, and dozens of arrests made.

“This curfew will be strictly enforced,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. “We are not screwing around with this.”

The five separate fires have so far burned more than 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), California’s fire agency reported.

“It reminded me of more of a war scene, where you had certain targets that were bombarded,” said Mr Biden, as he received a briefing on the fires at the White House.

‘Devastating’

A lull in winds enabled much-needed progress in tackling the fires on Jan 10.

The biggest of the blazes has burnt down more than 20,000 acres of the upscale Pacific Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods, where firefighters said they were starting to get the fire under control.

By Jan 10, eight per cent of its perimeter was contained – meaning it can’t spread any further in that direction.

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