An aerial view of the fire damage caused by the Eaton Fire is shown in Altadena, California, U.S. January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - From the air, the once-thriving Los Angeles neighborhoods wiped out by recent wildfires now appear as block after block of grayish-brown ash and rubble. Sunlight reflects off the skeletal remains of homes, restaurants and shops.

The only bright colors seen from a helicopter flight over fire-damaged areas on Wednesday came from a few red cars and a single yellow one. Traffic was light as residents in most of the region were still being kept away.

Some stone chimneys and trees stood defiantly tall in Altadena, the city that bore the brunt of the Easton Fire.

On one street a white picket fence was left unscathed from the inferno, its gate swung open, but the house a few steps away had been burnt to the ground. Another area showed about a dozen homes intact while others around it had been torched.

Several backyard swimming pools, burnt-out cars and twisted metal from homes were visible from the sky.

To the west, the Palisades Fire created a scar in the hillside where the upscale enclave offered postcard-perfect views of the Pacific Ocean.

Since the two fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.

As of Wednesday, the Eaton Fire was 91% contained and the Palisades Fire was 68% contained.

Plumes of smoke from a new fire rose north of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Hughes Fire rapidly spread to 9,400 acres (38 square km), forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Michael Perry)

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