LA County medical examiner’s office confirms wildfire death toll rises to 16

The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the area has risen to 16.

The total number of confirmed fatalities stands at 16 victims, and the cases remain under investigation. Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire, and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the coroner’s office said in a statement on Saturday evening.

The previous number of confirmed fatalities was 11, but officials said they expected that figure to rise as cadaver dogs search levelled neighbourhoods and crews assess the devastation. Authorities have established a centre where people can report the missing.

Firefighters raced to cut off spreading wildfires before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames towards the world famous J Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.

A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.

Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.

At a briefing, CalFire operations chief Christian Litz said a main focus on Saturday would be the Palisades Fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus.

“We need to be aggressive out there,” Mr Litz said.

County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area “had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the northeast expansion of the Palisades Fire”.

Light breezes were fanning the flames, but the National Weather Service warned that strong Santa Ana winds — the nemesis of firefighters — could soon return.

Those winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into infernos that levelled entire neighbourhoods around a city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.

The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.