Shell-shocked Los Angeles residents on Thursday surveyed the devastation from fast-moving fires that have claimed at least five lives, as officials warned the largest blazes remained totally uncontained.

Swathes of the city lay eerily deserted due to the fires' destruction and sweeping evacuation orders, with acrid smoke blanketing the sky.

A vast firefighting operation continued for a third day, bolstered by extra water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds.

Amid the chaos, looting has broken out, with at least 20 arrests made so far, officials said.

The biggest fire, which has ripped through 17,000 acres (6,900 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, is "one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," city fire chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference.

Another 10,000-acre fire in Altadena was also at "zero percent containment," although spreading had "significantly stopped" as wind gust reduced, county fire chief Anthony Marrone said.

Judy Chu, the US congresswoman representing the region, visited an evacuation........

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