LOS ANGELES 鈥� The two biggest fires devastating the Los Angeles area grew slightly Friday as firefighters began to gain some control of blazes that have killed at least 11 people, obliterated neighborhoods and left the nation鈥檚 second-largest city on edge.
Officials expressed optimism that an easing of the punishing winds that had been stoking the flames will allow firefighters to make headway on the fires that burned an area bigger than San Francisco and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures since Tuesday.
"These fires are not out, though today we're going to make a lot of progress," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday.
Metropolitan LA and its 13 million residents, who haven't seen rain in more than eight months, woke up Friday to another day of strong winds and the threat of new flareups.
The gusts were expected to diminish by evening, however, and already died down from earlier in the week, when hurricane-force winds blew embers that ignited hillsides.
But meteorologist Rich Thompson warned the break could be short-lived.
"We're looking for a little respite on Friday and Saturday from the Santa Ana winds but then they're going to pick up again Sunday through most of next week," he said Thursday evening.
LA Mayor Karen Bass said Friday that firefighters contained several smaller fires in the previous 24 hours.
The level of devastation is jarring even in a state that has grown used to massive wildfires. Dozens of blocks of scenic Pacific Palisades were flattened to smoldering rubble. In neighboring Malibu, oceanfront homes next to a fire station were in ruins.
In some neighborhoods, hydrants ran dry and the water system buckled. Newsom ordered an investigation Friday into the loss of water pressure.
A firefighting plane had to be grounded Thursday after it was struck by a drone flown by a civilian, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Nobody was injured. It's a federal crime to fly a drone during firefighting.
Firefighters for the first time made progress containing the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, officials said Friday. It started Tuesday night and has burned more than 7,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Officials said Friday most evacuation orders for the area were lifted.
To the west, the fire in Pacific Palisades, the largest burning in the LA area, has destroyed over 5,300 structures. The blaze is already the most destructive in Los Angeles' history.
Authorities set up a center for people looking for missing loved ones.
Of the 11 deaths so far, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley confirmed two were in the Palisades Fire. County officials said the Eaton Fire killed five.聽Tens of thousands of people remained under evacuation orders.
The fires have consumed about 56 square miles, larger than the size of San Francisco.
All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, were closed again Friday because of heavy smoke wafting over the city.
California National Guard troops arrived on the streets of Altadena before dawn Friday to help protect property in the fire evacuation zone and evening curfews were set to begin in those areas to prevent looting after several earlier arrests.
Now four days since the flames erupted in and around Los Angeles, many residents returned to their still-smoldering neighborhoods even as the threat of new fires persisted and the nation's second- largest city remained unsettled.
For some it was a first look at the staggering reality of what was lost as the region grapples with the gargantuan challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.
Bridget Berg, who was at work when she saw on TV her house in Altadena erupt in flames, came back for the first time with her family on Thursday 鈥渏ust to make it real.鈥�
Their feet crunched across the broken bits covering what had been their home for 16 years.
Her kids sifted through debris on the sidewalk, finding a clay pot and a few keepsakes as they searched for Japanese wood prints they hoped to recover. Her husband pulled his hand out of rubble near the still-standing fireplace, holding up a piece of petrified wood handed down by his grandmother.
鈥淚t鈥檚 OK. It鈥檚 OK,鈥� Berg said as she took stock of the destruction, describing the deck and pool from which her family watched fireworks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we just lost our house 鈥� everybody lost their house.鈥�
Anna Yeager said she and her husband agonized over going back to their beloved Altadena neighborhood near Pasadena after fleeing Tuesday night with their 6-year old daughter and 3-year-old son, their two dogs and a few extra clothes. A neighbor told them their house was gone.
Now she regrets not grabbing her children鈥檚 artwork, her husband鈥檚 treasured cookbooks, family photos, and jewelry from both her mom who died in 2012 and her husband鈥檚 grandmother who survived Auschwitz.
When the couple returned, it was only 鈥渃himney after chimney. Power lines everywhere. Fires still going everywhere鈥� she said, adding that when they walked up to their home 鈥渋t was just dust.鈥�