(WXYZ) — The wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have claimed more lives as the confirmed death toll has doubled to 10 overnight.
We won't know the true number until it's safe for investigators to get into the neighborhoods. There are five active wildfires in Los Angeles County.
The largest is still the Palisades Fire, and it exploded to 20,000 acres overnight and it's only 6% contained.
The second-largest fire - the Eaton Fire - remains at 0% contained, and the fires have been burning for four days, destroying entire neighborhoods.
Overnight, I spoke to native metro Detroiters who are now living through the historic fires in Los Angeles.
It's very surreal for those we spoke to. There's nothing like that in Michigan, and now, they find themselves dealing with a natural disaster that seems to be growing.
Malice Kheir is an IT consultant who grew up in Northville but currently lives in Downtown LA.
She said the wildfires are only 7 miles from where she lives, but she hasn't suffered any damage to her home.
“One of my acquaintances' house caught on fire with their dog inside. Unfortunately, it was a total loss. And then, I have two friends who were evacuated from Hollywood who ended up coming to my condo to spend the night last night," Kheir said.
Malice said the LA skies were completely orange, and the smell of smoke is still around.
Jonathan Kirkland is a Southfield native who's an actor living in the Inglewood community. He's appeared in various moves and TV shows. His wife is a Detroit native and both of them attended Michigan State.
“This situation is different you, know. And, to my friends and colleagues and family who’ve been here for their whole lives, you know, they’ve said they’ve never seen anything like this. You know, while they feel okay with the precautions they’ve taken and all that, they’ve still never seen this. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen entire communities burn to the ground, burn to ashes," Kirkland said.
