AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Firefighters continue to battle multiple major fires today in Los Angeles, with much of the county under a red flag warning.

At least five people have been killed, a number of officials expect to rise, and 180,000 people are currently under evacuation orders.

GEOFF BENNETT: The fires that started on Tuesday are now among the most destructive in California state history.

More than 2,000 buildings and structures have already been destroyed.

Stephanie Sy is on the ground and has this report.

STEPHANIE SY: This is your street.

ROOSEVELT PULLEM, Fire Victim: This is it.

STEPHANIE SY: The scenes along 86-year-old Roosevelt Pullem's Altadena street were apocalyptic, as we drove him back to his house today.

The site of its remains overwhelmed him.

He recalled where he was when the flames started approaching, working on one of his cars.

ROOSEVELT PULLEM: This was my lady.

STEPHANIE SY: That house was home for nearly 40 years.

ROOSEVELT PULLEM: That was my peach tree.

STEPHANIE SY: As the sun rose this morning over Los Angeles, thick smoke filled the air and the scale of devastation became clear.

Today, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the damage was catastrophic.

ROBERT LUNA, Los Angeles County, California, Sheriff: Some of them looked like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities.

That's our prayer.

STEPHANIE SY: Winds subsided enough Wednesday and overnight to allow firefighters to attack from the sky, dropping water and retardant in the burning hills and mountain ranges that semicircle Los Angeles.

But dangerous wildfires continue to burn across L.A. County.

Today, the city's mayor, Karen Bass, responded to criticism that fire hydrants used to fight the massive Palisades Fire ran dry.

KAREN BASS (D), Mayor of Los Angeles, California: The fire hydrants are not constructed to deal with this type of massive devastation and that the number one problem especially was the fact that we weren't able to do the air support because of the winds.

And so, of course, I am absolutely frustrated by that.

STEPHANIE SY: Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said extreme fire behavior is still possible.

KRISTIN CROWLEY, Los Angeles City, California, Fire Chief: Today, it is absolutely imperative that as we move into day three of this firestorm, all members of our Los Angeles community maintain vigilance.

STEPHANIE SY: A new fire Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills forced more mandatory evacuations, but firefighters made headway with the blaze and the order was later lifted.

Today, President Biden addressed the fires from Washington.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I also want everyone in Southern California to know we're going to keep at it.

We're sticking with this.

We're going to continue to spend -- sending everything, literally every resource we can find that's appropriate to help the governor and the first responders.

STEPHANIE SY: In Pasadena, the Convention Center has become a clearinghouse of calamity.

This is where hundreds of evacuees of the Eaton Fire ended up when they had nowhere else to go.

NAKIA RHODES, Fire Victim: As far as I know, my house is totally engulfed, based on the fact that, on both ends of the streets, both the houses were on fire.

STEPHANIE SY: Nakia Rhodes and her two daughters among them.

They had little time to flee and no warning.

NAKIA RHODES: I could see flames rolling down the hills.

I could see it rolling up the hills.

I could see them going left.

I could see them going right.

I seen everything the wind was doing to the fire.

And I'm wondering, why isn't anyone telling us to evacuate?

STEPHANIE SY: It sounds like you have reason for some frustration at officials right now.

NAKIA RHODES: I do.

I do.

They failed me twice.

They failed me by not telling me to leave my house with my daughter and my little baby.

And nobody's telling me anything, except for there's a cot in the other room.

STEPHANIE SY: Seventeen-year-old Destiny is a senior at Pasadena High School.

DESTINY RHODES, Fire Victim: Since the power was out, we had no way to see.

Like, we couldn't look it up on our phones because we had no power and no Internet.

NAKIA RHODES: Yes, we couldn't watch the news.

DESTINY RHODES: We couldn't watch the news.

So we had no idea what was happening.

And all we saw was fire and red.

STEPHANIE SY: Longtime Altadena residents Pattie and Bruce Brown have survived previous wildfire scares, but this one was different.

PATTIE BROWN, Fire Victim: We always rode it out.

This time, it was different because we had to leave.

It's the first time we have ever been to a shelter in our life.

STEPHANIE SY: They were able to save their dog, Captain, but they don't yet know how their beloved and one-of-a-kind house fared.

BRUCE BROWN, Fire Victim: We live in a house built from 1936 to 1941 by industrial arts teacher, so it's all handmade.

All the light fixtures, everything in it are all handmade.

So if it burns down, you can't replace it.

STEPHANIE SY: Back at the burnt-out shell that was Roosevelt Pullem's house, he sits through still-smoldering ashes.

He left his wallet around here.

ROOSEVELT PULLEM: All my things for driving, my VA health care I.D.

card.

STEPHANIE SY: He has insurance, but worries that it may not be enough to rebuild in an area where home prices have skyrocketed since he and his late wife first moved in.

For Pullem, like so many, starting over here may not be an option.

For now, he's staying at the convention center, and he's far from alone.

The Korean War vet calls himself a survivor.

ROOSEVELT PULLEM: I have been through a lot, and that's all I kept thinking.

I can get through this, and that's what I'm thinking now.

STEPHANIE SY: Here in Altadena, you can see that conditions have improved since I was here 24 hours ago.

The smoke has somewhat cleared.

You can still smell it in the air, but you're starting to see some blue sky.

You're also continuing to see flames like the ones behind me and smoldering wreckage.

This area is still completely closed to residents, many of whom have tried to go back to their houses, but have been turned away.

They did, however, let media come through this area to assess the damage today.

We drove throughout the streets.

There were some streets where all of the houses on a block would be burned down, but across the street, houses would remain intact.

Sadly, I have to report that Nakia Rhodes duplex is just across the street from where I'm standing.

We introduced you to her in the piece.

And her suspicions did turn out to be correct.

There is no structure there standing, including her home and everything in it -- Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Steph, I know you have spoken to dozens of people who've had to evacuate, people who've lost their homes.

What are the immediate challenges for them moving forward?

STEPHANIE SY: The challenges are immense, Geoff, because people who live in L.A. will say this.

Wildfires, when they hit houses, are kind of like earthquakes.

You have little to no warning.

And so we have spoken to a lot of people who lost their homes, did not get an emergency alert text on their phone, and only fled when they had to, when the flames and sparks were upon them.

And so they had the clothes on their backs.

In some cases, like Roosevelt, who you met in the piece, they didn't have time to get their wallet or even a phone.

And so they are navigating insurance companies trying to book hotels, trying to get cash out of the bank.

Roosevelt is an 86-year-old heart patient who has medications needs and he can't get the prescriptions filled.

And so that is what people are facing.

And a lot of folks have come up to us and wondered, where are the FEMA officials?

Where can we get help?

What do we do?

We have never been through this before, so a ton of challenges.

GEOFF BENNETT: How disruptive have the fires been for the rest of L.A. County broadly?

STEPHANIE SY: These major fires are positioned in sort of a semicircle around Los Angeles.

So you have the fire on the coast up there in the Palisades, and then you have this fire in the San Gabriel Valley, which is inland.

And, in between you have the Hollywood Hills, which were in flames yesterday.

And those have been put out.

But as a result, Hollywood production companies and studio lots have been closed.

Many school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, which is the second largest school district in the country, was shut down today.

Traffic is snarled in many areas here in Altadena.

Streets are closed.

They have even postponed award ceremonies and considering postponing some major sporting events here.

So it is quite disruptive for many Angelenos.

GEOFF BENNETT: And at this hour, how much have the current major fires been contained?

STEPHANIE SY: The way that officials described it in an earlier press conference is, they have been able to stall forward progress of the flames.

In other words, the fires aren't growing rapidly, but they are still burning out of control and there is zero percent containment in the major fires that we have been talking about, the Eaton Canyon fire, which is where I am, and the Palisades Fire, which continues to burn.

So tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders here.

GEOFF BENNETT: Stephanie Sy reporting tonight from Altadena, California.

Stephanie, our thanks to you and your team there.

STEPHANIE SY: Thank you.