Harrowing earlier than and after pictures present the complete extent of harm attributable to devastating LA wildfires – as greater than 10,000 buildings are destroyed

The devastation wrought by the hellish wildfires tearing through Los Angeles has been brought into horrifying focus thanks to a series of new before and after images.

A mix of aerial drone and helicopter pictures, images obtained by passing satellites and up close snaps taken by brave journalists and citizens exploring the ruins came together to encapsulate the scale of the catastrophe. 

Huge swathes of LA and its coastline are seen laid to waste in the graphic pictures, with countless houses and structures having imploded under the ferocious heat and power of the fires. 

Other stunning images showed how Malibu – a beachside paradise just days ago – was obliterated by the inferno, its signature rows of palm trees reduced to blackened stumps. 

Rows of glitzy waterfront houses lay in charred ruins after the punishing blaze ripped through them – save for one miracle structure which stood alone, flanked by smoking debris on all sides. 

Dozens of blocks were flattened in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood moments away, home to a slew of A-list celebrities. For many, only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remained. 

Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins, Tina Knowles, John Goodman, Candy Spelling, Milo Ventimiglia, and Miles Teller are among those whose homes were demolished.

The so-called Palisades Fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on LA’s western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history, consuming more than 34,000 acres (13,750 hectares) – or some 53 square miles.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference late last night that he expected the death toll of 10 to grow rapidly.

‘It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers,’ Luna said, as reports of horrific deaths endured by those trapped emerged.

Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son, Justin, who had cerebral palsy, were waiting for an ambulance to come, but they did not make it out, Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White, told The Washington Post.

Shari Shaw told KTLA that she tried to get her 66-year-old brother, Victor Shaw, to evacuate Tuesday night but he wanted to stay and fight the fire. Crews found his body with a garden hose in his hand.

The death toll is expected to rise as police and fire services prepare to deploy K-9 units trained to sniff out human remains. 

The latest horrifying before and after images come just one day after another batch showed how the fires had torn through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

A slew of notable locations, including Sunset Boulevard that splits the upscale Pacific Palisades, were engulfed in punishing flames that tore through residential and commercial areas alike and reduced buildings to burnt-out husks.

Banks, restaurants, gas stations and homes were left in smoldering ruins along the iconic boulevard, where bulldozers were forced to remove abandoned luxury motors, forging a path for emergency services and firefighters.

The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage, but private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.

‘We’re already looking ahead to aggressively rebuild the city of Los Angeles,’ said Democrat Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced harsh criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, other Republicans and LA business moguls over her handling of the disaster.

President Joe Biden, who declared a major disaster on Tuesday, promised on Thursday that the federal government would reimburse 100% of the recovery for the next 180 days to pay for debris and hazard material removal, temporary shelters and first responder salaries.

‘I told the governor, local officials, spare no expense to do what they need to do and contain these fires,’ Biden said after meeting with senior advisers at the White House.

In all, five wildfires burned in Los Angeles County, with the largest Palisades fire just 6% contained and the Eaton fire 0% contained. Skies buzzed with aircraft dropping retardant and water on the flaming hills.

Officials late on Thursday urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew.

The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees and then moved into neighboring Ventura County by the evening.

LAPD senior lead officer Charles Dinsel told NewsNation that a suspect is in custody, who is believed to have intentionally caused the latest blaze.

‘About 20 to 30 minutes later a suspect was detained over in Woodland Hills area by citizens. It is being investigated as a crime,’ Dinsel said.  

The officer was asked directly if he believed the fire was set intentionally, and he said: ‘At this time, that’s what we believe. Yes.’

Sources told DailyMail.com that a resident called 911 to report a male attempting to set a fire at the 21700 block of Ybarra road at around 4.30pm.

Only hours earlier, officials had expressed encouragement after firefighters aided by calmer winds and help from crews from outside the state saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region’s devastating wildfires that have killed 10 people so far.

‘We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,’ Mayor Bass said, echoing the forecast that called for winds to strengthen Thursday evening through Friday morning.

All of the large fires that have broken out this week in the Los Angeles area are located in a roughly 25-mile (40-kilometer) band north of downtown, spreading a sense of fear and sadness across the nation’s second-largest city.

The systemic failures in the deep blue city that allowed such devastating fires to spread have led many to call for the resignation of Mayor Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom. 

Amid furore from critics saying that water was unavailable to fire crews, Biden explained yesterday that the problems were self-inflicted to avoid further fanning the flames.  

‘What I know from talking to the governor, there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage,’ he said in a press briefing Thursday. 

‘The fact is the utilities, understandably, shut off power because they are worried the lines that carried energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires. 

‘When it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water, that’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.’ 

In an attempt to rectify the situation, Biden said Cal Fire and other state officials are bringing in generators. 

LA Mayor Bass was stunned into silence earlier this week after being asked to apologise to residents for cutting the fire service’s budget by millions.

And Governor Newsom became emotional when asked about Donald Trump placing the blame on him for the disastrous wildfires, after the president-elect referred to the California Governor as ‘Gavin Newscum’ and said he was at fault for the disaster. 

Trump’s remark came as LA real estate developer Rick Caruso, whose Palisades Village properties were demolished by the inferno, blamed the shocking issue on ‘mismanagement’ and ‘systemic problems’ in the city after it emerged the hydrants were not filled by reservoir water.

‘This is a window into a systemic problem of the city — not only of mismanagement, but our infrastructure is old,’ he said, as the LA Times reported that firefighters were radioing their stations with reports that the hydrants were dry. 

He went onto rail against Bass – who was out of the country as the fire tore through the city earlier this week – and the Department of Water and Power (DWP) in a stern interview delivered to FOX News.

Caruso – himself a former commissioner of the city’s Board of Water and Power – declared: ‘Everybody knew these winds were coming… you got to have water and my understanding is that the reservoir was not filled on time, or in a timely manner.

‘This is basic stuff… it’s all about leadership and management that we’re seeing a failure of and all of these residents are paying the ultimate price for that… Why don’t you call the mayor, who’s out of the country, and ask her? (why the fire hydrants are dry)’, he concluded. 

At least 180,000 people were under evacuation orders on Thursday evening, and a chilling warning was issued on Thursday night urging locals to get out now, with Senator Adam Schiff bluntly revealing: ‘If you stay, you’re going to die.’

‘If you get an evacuation order, get the hell out,’ he said. ‘You may think you can outrun a fire, you cannot outrun these fires. If you stay, you’re going to die in them.’

All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, will be closed Friday because of the heavy smoke wafting over the city and ash raining down in parts, and classes will not resume until the conditions improve, officials said.

At least 20 arrests have been made for looting, and the city of Santa Monica declared a curfew because of the lawlessness, officials said. National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. 

The county sheriff said to protect properties they’ll be stationed near the areas ravaged by fire and a curfew was expected to go into effect from 6pm until 6am.

Flames destroyed the homes of dozens of celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, months after major insurer State Farm is said to have canceled thousands of insurance policies in the area. 

Hundreds of displaced residents now face multi-million dollar bills to clean up and rebuild their properties without any coverage at all. 

‘You are a pile of crap for cancelling insurance policies,’ comedic actor Rob Schneider ranted against State Farm yesterday. He is one of several stars, including James Woods, who are outraged by the cancellations.

Jeff Bridges, 75, confirmed his Malibu family home was burnt down in the Pacific Palisades fire.

Per TMZ, the four bedroom home had been in the family for generations, and was inherited by Jeff, his brother and sister.

Star Trek: The Next Generation actress Denise Crosby, 67, shared that her Spanish Cottage Pacific Palisades home was completely destroyed in the wildfire. 

On Wednesday she said: ‘Yesterday morning I had a beautiful Spanish cottage that gave me endless joy, where I met my husband and raised my son. 

‘The only house I’ve ever owned, with fruit trees I grew, with a garden of native plants. Now, ashes. I am heartbroken #palisadesfire.’ 

This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia, 47, lost his home in the blaze, the actor told CBS News. 

Despite neighbors telling the father-to-be that his home was destroyed, Ventimiglia got emotional when he saw it for himself after returning home to his Malibu home. 

‘You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and what not and then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything kind of around and your heart just breaks,’ Ventimiglia told the outlet. 

Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles revealed that she lost her Malibu bungalow to the catastrophic wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles.

She heartbrokenly revealed that her oceanfront property in Malibu was wrecked by the same fire – just days after she celebrated her 71st birthday there.

Jamie Lee Curtis pledged $1 million to start a ‘fund of support’ for those affected by the fires that touched all economic levels from the city’s wealthy to its working class.