The devastating Palisades Fire pushed to the northeast, prompting new evacuations in the Southern California neighborhoods of Brentwood and Encino as the threat of more dry winds raises risks after a brief respite.

The spreading flames brought “another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.

Evacuation orders in Brentwood meant that iconic landmarks like the Getty Center, home to one of the region’s largest art collections and an architectural landmark, were under new threat.

After a brief break from the winds that gave firefighters a chance to make even small progress, dry winds will fan the blazes and likely persist through the first half of the coming week, leaving millions in peril, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center.

So far, the devastation have so far killed 11 people, eight in the Eaton Fire and three in the Palisades. Thirteen are missing, officials said. Another 19 have been arrested for curfew violations, burglary and looting.

No rain is in the forecast, weather officials said. Winds and dry conditions “will keep fire threat in LA county high,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Saturday.

For almost a week, terror has spread across Los Angeles and its surrounding communities as thousands of homes and other buildings have been destroyed, and more than 180,000 have had to flee the spreading flames. The Palisades and Eaton fires have been so ferocious that they have already become the third- and fourth-most destructive in state history and neither is out yet, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, commonly known as Cal Fire.

The fires also have put pressure on utilities that preemptively cut electricity to residents. Edison International’s Southern California power company has been asked by attorneys representing insurance companies to preserve evidence in connection with the Eaton Fire.

Edison has also said fire agencies are investigating whether the company’s equipment was involved in the ignition of the smaller Hurst Fire near San Fernando.

California has a history of devastating wildfires sparked by electric utility equipment during wind storms. The state’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after a series of deadly blazes blamed on its wires.

The fires are the most devastating natural disaster to strike Los Angeles since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed 57 people, and are likely to rank among the costliest natural disasters in modern U.S. history. Commercial-forecaster AccuWeather Inc. estimates direct and secondary losses, which account for uninsured destruction and indirect economic impact such as lost wages and supply-chain disruptions, may reach between $135 billion to $150 billion.

Early Saturday, the Palisades fire had burned at least 22,660 acres (9,170 hectares) and was only 11% contained, while the Eaton blaze close to Pasadena had consumed 14,117 acres and was 15% contained, officials said. Between the two, more than 10,000 structures have been destroyed. Crews are also battling three smaller incidents in the area.

A mandatory evacuation order was issued from Sunset Boulevard North to the Encino Reservoir and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon, a populated area. New shelters have been opened for evacuees.

While the crews are in the field, officials have begun to critique the region’s response.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley pointed the finger at city leaders for cutting her department’s budget, saying it hindered the firefight and told local television station Fox 11 “it did impact our ability to provide service.”

Mayor Karen Bass, who trimmed more than $17 million in funding to the fire department, defended her actions, saying the reductions came during “tough budgetary times” and didn’t affect the wildfire response.

California Governor Gavin Newsom sent the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power a letter requesting a review of why hydrants in the fire zones repeatedly ran low on water. He pointed to a reservoir that the Los Angeles Times reported had been closed for repairs when the fires struck, calling the lack of water “deeply troubling to me and to the community.”

High pressure is building inland and low pressure near the border with Mexico, which will create a gradient to draw, dry, hot gusts over the region’s mountains, Hurley said.

Gusts will likely reach 40 miles (64 kilometers) to 60 miles per hour by early next week, said Ryan Kittell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, California. “It’s a step down from what we had earlier this week, but it is still quite significant.”

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With assistance from David R. Baker, Eliyahu Kamisher, Hari Govind and Mark Chediak.

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