"It’s hard to see, because there’s so much pain and suffering,” said one local, who dropped off toys at the Westwood Recreation Center in West Los Angeles.

State authorities previously listed the Palisades as one of the five Southern California areas with the highest concentration of potential wildfire risks. The community also is among the areas most impacted by an unavailability of insurance coverage.

Lakers coach JJ Redick and Warriors coach Steve Kerr said family members are safe after being forced to evacuate due to the Palisades wildfires.

Firefighters battled early Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat and were not expected to be as powerful during the day. That could allow firefighters to make progress reining in blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling region,

Firefighters battled Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed seven people, burned at least 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses, and other structures have been destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, and the number is expected to increase. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire.