British woman living in LA fears fires - and looters

A British woman living in Los Angeles says she is ready to evacuate her home as out-of-control wildfires continue to rip across parts of the region.

Lynsey Hand, originally from Kilburn in Derbyshire, moved to California five years ago and said the flames were about two miles (3.2km) away from her home in Pasadena.

The 52-year-old said she hoped her home would avoid the fire but some of her friends had lost their houses and "everything in them".

She told the BBC: "We are still under an evacuation warning so we have got bags packed ready to leave if we have to."

In Los Angeles county, about 179,000 people are under evacuation orders - many of them fleeing their homes with just the belongings they could carry.

Another 200,000 residents, like Mrs Hand, are under evacuation warning, meaning they could be required to leave their homes soon.

There are currently five fires still actively burning in the Los Angeles area.

Mrs Hand said one of her friends did not take any belongings with them when they evacuated as they "couldn't see any fires around them" and thought their property would be untouched by flames.

"Within an hour their house was gone," she said. "It's wild."

Authorities say 10 people are confirmed dead but the death toll is expected to rise.

Mrs Hand, a retail project manager at The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in the city, said she did not get any sleep on Tuesday due to what was happening around her.

"The winds were insane that evening", she recalled.

"There were trees absolutely everywhere, traffic lights were off and as I pulled onto my road, I could see hills in front of my driveway completely on fire."

Mrs Hand said she has seen some embers the "size of bricks" falling on to people's homes.

"Some embers are flying about two miles away from fires and are falling onto random roofs," she said.

As well as the fires, residents are concerned about the threat of looting.

"It's well publicised which areas are evacuated, so looters know which houses are empty," Mrs Hand said.

"I even had someone come to my door last night and peer through the window."

So far police have arrested about 20 people for raiding abandoned buildings, with a curfew put in place by authorities.

"My husband, who is a police officer, has been told to be on standby to knock on doors to get people evacuated and to protect homes from looters," she said.

"Thank you for all the good wishes from home and everybody here is rooting for us, which is really nice."

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