We're expecting to hear from Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, shortly - she'll be giving us an update on the wildfires affecting her city.

As our earlier post outlined, Bass has faced some criticism for being away when the fires began.

We'll bring you text updates right here and you'll be able to watch the news conference for yourself at the top of the page. Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

We're hearing that around 179,700 Los Angeles County residents are now under evacuation orders, as of early on Thursday, and nearly 200,000 are under evacuation warnings, LA county's Office of Emergency Management says.

The last figure circulating suggested around 130,000 people had been ordered to evacuate - so a fairly significant jump.

Fires have covered roughly 45 square miles (117 square km) and left five people dead, officials say.

More than 1,300 buildings have already burned and over 60,000 structures are under threat in densely-populated areas.

We're going to be hearing at about 08:00 local time (16:00 GMT) from Los Angeles officials on the status of the wildfires that have killed at least five people and destroyed structures across the city.

It's the first time we'll hear from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced criticism for being out of town when the fires began. She was on a trip to Ghana for the inauguration of its new president.

Also expected to speak are:

• LA County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger
• LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath
• LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone
• LA City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley
• LA County Sheriff Robert Luna
• LA. City Police Chief Jim McDonnell
• LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman
• LA County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan
• LA County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella
• LA Department of Water and Power CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quinones

We'll share updates from the press conference here, or you can follow along by clicking Watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION / HANDOUT

People in Los Angeles will soon be waking up to calmer conditions that could help firefighters tackle the powerful blazes across the city - though conditions later today could still fuel the fires.

The Palisades fire remains the largest in the city with more than 17,000 acres burned, followed by the Eaton fire that is more than 10,000 acres in size. Both are still at 0% containment.

But winds in Los Angeles are calmer this morning, after Wednesday brought gusts of up to 80mph (130km/h) that fuelled the fires, said Brent Pascua, battalion chief with California's fire authority.

“I believe if it stays like this we can actually turn a corner on these fires and make some progress today, some good progress. In case they pick up again later tonight we’ll have something to anchor into,” he told NBC News on Thursday morning.

Still, winds are expected to increase this evening into Friday morning and a red flag warning of critical fire weather is in force until 18:00 local time Friday (02:00 GMT Saturday).

The Los Angeles Fire Department has just announced that an evacuation order for the Hollywood Hills West area will be lifted at 7:30 local time (15:30 GMT).

Residents were asked to leave the area because of the Sunset fire, which is not yet contained, but is shrinking. Some residents are already returning home.

"We will still have LAFD companies working in the area and ask you to be careful while returning to your homes," the fire department said in a statement.

The area is home to about 15,000 people.

Evacuation orders remain in effect for several areas around Los Angeles.

A captain with the Los Angeles Fire Department says crews are continuing to battle "erratic winds" as they attempt to control the fires around the city.

Adam Vangerpen says the situation is "unlike anything that I've ever seen in my 25 years on the fire department", CBS News, the BBC's US partner, reports.

He adds that the fire department's priority is saving lives and helping people to safely evacuate.

More than 15 school districts will remain closed today in Los Angeles, the county's Office of Education has announced.

One of these districts is the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which said the fires had made it unsafe for schools to stay open in the area.

Some districts have also announced they will remain closed on Friday.

More than 300,000 homes and businesses in southern California have no electricity, according to the latest estimates from Poweroutages.us.

On Wednesday evening, South California Edison - which provides most of the electricity in the area - said its customers were being affected by the fires and extreme winds in the region.

It estimates more than 230,400 customers were without power due to the weather, but another roughly 138,180 had no power due to a deliberate power shutoff for public safety in the area.

We've got footage from public safety programme ALERTCalifornia which shows the fire consuming a hilly area in Los Angeles.

The clip covers a 12 hour period - but we've sped it up to 79 seconds.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Throughout our reporting, we've been referring to the "containment" of the wildfires in Los Angeles, but what does this mean?

In brief, containment describes the progress firefighters make in controlling the spread of the flames.

It's often listed as a percentage, which you will have seen in earlier posts on our page - like when we reported that authorities said the Lidia wildfire was 40% contained.

According to the BBC's US partner, CBS, external, this means firefighter crews have established barriers around 40% of the fire's perimeter.

Natural barriers include roads, rivers and oceans. Firefighters can also create barriers with equipment like bulldozers, hoses and shovels to remove vegetation from the bare soil, meaning there is nothing for the fire to burn.

A fire being 100% contained doesn't mean it's been extinguished, but instead it means the fire has been fully encircled and the spread has been effectively stopped.

There are now at least five active fires in the Los Angeles area and neighbouring regions - here is the latest information about the blazes from the state's fire authority:

• Palisades: At least 17,234 acres, 0% contained
• Eaton: At least 10,600 acres, 0% contained
• Hurst: At least 855 acres, 10% contained
• Lidia: At least 348 acres, 40% contained
• Sunset: At least 43 acres, 0% contained - but shrinking in size

The Woodley and Olivas fires - which broke out yesterday - have now both been 100% contained, according to local fire authorities. Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes reports that the Sunset fire is coming under control, but is not completely extinguished.

James FitzGerald
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

We don't yet have concrete answers as to what started the LA fires, it is too early to tell and first responders are still focused on evacuating and tackling the blazes.

But, officials have pointed to high winds and drought in the area, which has made vegetation very dry and easy to burn.

An important factor that has been cited in the spread of the blazes is the seasonally strong Santa Ana winds.

These blow from inland towards the coast and with speeds of more than 60mph (97 km/h) these are believed to have fanned the flames and embers across LA County.

The likely impact of climate change has also been cited been blamed - although the exact circumstances remain unclear.

Some 95% of wildfires in the area are started by humans, according to David Acuna, a battalion chief at the Californian Fire Service, although officials are yet to state how they think the current fires started.

• Everything you need to know about the powerful Santa Ana winds

Video taken from inside a car shows the unrecognisable Malibu seafront, which has been impacted by the Palisades fire - the largest of the LA fires.

Image source, Getty

Firefighters in Los Angeles are running out of water and don't have enough engines, a Los Angeles resident tells Reuters.

"They're under-resourced here because they're sending a lot of their troops to the front line," says Mark McMillan, who is helping to control the fire in his girlfriend's neighbourhood.

"One of the firefighters told me, if I'm ing correctly, they sent 500 engines to Topanga. Because that's where a lot of stuff is happening. And I'm grateful because that's where I live...

"But here they only have two engines for this whole neighbourhood and they're out of water. They ran out of water from the lines here, but they also don't have water in their trucks.

"And so they have been setting up pumps. They go from the pools and the neighbours on either side of this house."

President-elect Donald Trump says Los Angeles is a "total wipeout" as a result of the fires raging across the region.

In a new Truth Social post, Trump hits out at outgoing President Joe Biden, the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles - who are all of the Democratic Party - as displaying "gross incompetence" in their handling of the wildfires.

"And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam!"

The president-elect adds: "Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before!"

Biden, who cancelled his trip to Italy to focus on fire response, said Wednesday that the government is "prepared to do anything and everything, as long as it takes" to contain the wildfires and to assist southern California with rebuilding efforts.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent in Los Angeles

The latest fire to start, which began on Wednesday night, struck at the heart of Hollywood.

Thousands of people were ordered to leave their homes as flames engulfed the hills overlooking some of LA's most recognisable landmarks: Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame.

The city's mayor said it was a "big firestorm" threatening lives and property in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods.

Fire fighters fought the inferno from the air with water from a local lake and eventually brought it under control.

Elsewhere, three major fires are still out of control: in the Pacific Palisades area along the coast, and further inland in Pasadena and Altadena.

About 300,000 homes and businesses are still without power in Los Angeles County.

The hurricane-force winds which have hindered fire fighters have died down, but gusts are still fanning the flames.

Altadena residents describe the moment they had to quickly evacuate their homes in Los Angeles County after fires ripped through the neighbourhood.

The Eaton fire - which is one of numerous fires affecting Los Angeles and nearby regions - has been raging through western Altadena.

Image source, Reuters

As five wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles, the BBC has been hearing from those affected. One resident tells us that "the whole Palisades is done", where the blaze covers more than 17,000 acres, as another says "it's like Armageddon".

With evacuation orders in place, nearly 2,000 structures destroyed and tens of thousands of people displaced, we've compiled some voices from Los Angeles:

"There was no oxygen": Resident Alec Gellis describes barely escaping "vortex of embers" after escaping a burning inferno where his girlfriends home used to be.

"It's just gone": One couple whose museum, which was once thought to have held the world's largest collection of bunny-related items, has now burnt to the ground. They say: 'It took us 40 years to build our museum - now it's just gone'.

"We are scared": Children from Los Angeles share their experience of the wildfires with the BBC: "The sun is red, there is smoke in the air and there is smoke in our lungs."

"This is complete devastation": Residents of Sunset Boulevard - parts of which are in ruins after fires tore through banks, cafes and supermarkets say "the whole town is done. This is complete devastation".

Our new map shows the size and shape of the blazes raging in Los Angeles, including the Eaton fire in western Altadena and the Palisades fire in Malibu.

The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, have swept across an area of more than 27,800 acres combined. The small Sunset fire is threatening the Hollywood Hills.