Seen from the sky, once-prosperous Los Angeles neighborhoods destroyed by recent wildfires are nothing more than blocks of gray-brown ash and rubble. Sunlight reflects off the skeletal remains of homes, restaurants and stores.
The only bright colors seen during a helicopter flight over the fire-ravaged areas Wednesday were those of a few red cars and a single yellow car. Traffic was light, with residents in most of the area still kept apart.
A few stone chimneys and trees stood defiantly in Altadena, the town hardest hit by the Easton Fire.
In one street, a white fence was spared from the blaze, its gate opened, but the house located a few steps away was reduced to ashes. In another area, a dozen houses were intact, while others had been burned.
Several backyard swimming pools, charred cars and twisted metal from homes were visible from the sky.
-To the west, the Palisades fire left a scar on the hillside, where the upscale enclave offered a postcard view of the Pacific Ocean.
Since the two fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly as large as Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, according to Cal Fire.
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 quickly spread to 9,400 acres (38 km2), forcing more than 31,000 people to evacuate.
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