Firefighters battled Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed at least five people, burned at least 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.
Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations calmed somewhat, though forecasters warned the high fire weather risk would continue into Friday.
Firefighters struggled against blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling region, including massive ones in Pacific Palisades and Altadena that were still burning uncontained Thursday night.
All Los Angeles Unified schools and offices will remain closed on Friday because of the fires, district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Thursday night. Classes will not resume until the conditions improve, he said.
Carvalho said the district has lost two elementary schools and that one high school is significantly damaged. He also said the district's foundation is working to support district employees who have lost their homes.
Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom in a social media post Thursday night said 900 additional firefighters are now being deployed to battle the fast-moving Kenneth Fire near the West Hills and Calabasas.
The fire ballooned in size — charring more than a square mile — within hours of igniting.
More than 5,300 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a media briefing Thursday afternoon.
And the Eaton Fire has destroyed more than 5,000 structures, authorities said Thursday afternoon. Authorities expect those numbers could change depending on additional mapping and surveying.
Santa Ana winds will be moderate to strong Thursday night, keeping the fire weather threat in the area focused on Los Angeles and Ventura County into Friday morning.
"The threat doesn't end after Friday however," National Weather Service Los Angeles meteorologists wrote Thursday afternoon in a social media post. Offshore winds will continue into early next week, peaking Sunday, as well as Tuesday into Wednesday.
Officials with Los Angeles County said an evacuation order alert for residents near the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills was mistakenly sent countywide on Thursday afternoon.
Officials said in a social media post that the alert was only intended for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister said Canadian military personnel, their equipment and another 250 firefighters stand "ready to support our American neighbors."
Harjit Sajjan said Canada is ready to deploy 250 firefighters, aircraft equipment, and other resources as early as Thursday night.
Sajjan's pledge came as the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said Thursday that the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center asked for two of its CL-415 Skimmer Airtankers to join the fight.
Alberta is preparing to send water bombers, night-vision helicopters and incident command team support. Premier Danielle Smith said on social media that the province was working with the agency and the federal government to assess California's needs.
More than 425,000 customers statewide are without power, according to the tracker PowerOutage.us.
Southern California Edison wrote on its website that several community resource centers have been set up around the region and work crews have been deployed within impacted communities. The resource centers allow customers to charge mobile devices and medical equipment and get information.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Wednesday night that it had restored power to more than 150,000 customers. Roughly 94,000 of the utility's customers remained without power Thursday morning, as wind and fire conditions continued to present hazards for work crews.