Fires continue to spread in Los Angeles

The numerous fires that have ravaged Los Angeles for the past five days, causing at least 11 deaths, spread Saturday to previously unscathed areas, which in turn were the target of evacuation orders.

Entire neighborhoods in the nation's second-largest city were devastated: more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed and more than 15,000 acres have been engulfed in smoke.

It looks like "a war scene," President Joe Biden said.

According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) forecasts, winds, which had begun to weaken on Friday, are expected to pick up again from this Saturday, distancing hopes of bringing the disaster under control, AFP explained.

With looting on the rise in the affected or evacuated areas, authorities declared a curfew, in effect between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas, the most devastated.

Deanne Criswell of FEMA warned that the situation remains dangerous.

Meanwhile, evacuations number in the hundreds of thousands. The orders also apply to the upscale neighborhoods along the fire's eastern flank, where the iconic Getty Center is located.

Built at a cost of $1 billion, partly of fire-resistant travertine stone, the famous museum houses 125,000 works of art.