Friday Briefing: Racing to Control Los Angeles Fires

Officials hoped that a drop in wind speeds yesterday would give firefighters a window to take control of the fast-moving blazes that have raged unchecked this week. At least five people have been killed, but that figure is expected to rise. Almost 180,000 people were under evacuation orders. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, along with landmarks, making the landscape unrecognizable. Follow our live coverage and our maps of fires.

The Santa Ana winds, dangerous gusts that have spread the flames, were expected to intensify overnight and through the weekend, and possibly continue into next week. Helicopters and planes dropped water from an ominous orange sky, and firefighters battled the blazes with a renewed supply of water after hydrants had gone dry in previous days.

The Hollywood Hills, home to celebrities and entertainment executives, also began to burn overnight. Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and other celebrities lost their homes.

Twenty people had been arrested and accused of looting during the chaos, with that number expected to increase, law enforcement officials said.

Context: Los Angeles, which is about the same size as two small U.S. states, can be hard to picture. Disasters or riots might occur on one end of the city while those on the opposite end are far removed from the scene. These wildfires, though, have assaulted the metropolis as a whole.

Rescue: As one resident rushed to evacuate, she sent out a plea to her Instagram followers: Could someone help evacuate her roughly 300-pound pig?