At least two dead as wildfires rage across Los Angeles

At least two people have died in a wildfire in Los Angeles, officials reported, as firefighters battle multiple blazes across California.

Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Marrone said two people have been killed in the Eaton fire, one of four growing blazes in the area, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

All four of the Los Angeles blazes - dubbed the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Woodley fires respectively - are at zero percent containment, according to the state's fire department website Cal Fire.

Mr Marrone also told a news conference a "high number" of significant injuries had occurred among residents who did not need evacuation orders, and that an estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades fire.

The county's sheriff said around 70,000 people across the city are under evacuation orders, and that two people have been arrested for looting.

At the news conference, Los Angeles' chief of police James McDonnell told reporters: "This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles, but a time where we're really tested and see who we really are.

"It's critical that at these times we be patient, that we come together, that we focus on saving lives and to be able to the very best job we can."

He then urged those under evacuation orders to take them "very seriously", saying they make "the difference between living and not".

Kristin Crowley, fire chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, also said: "We want to make sure that everybody understands we are absolutely not out of danger."

News.Az