By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – From the air, once-thriving Los Angeles neighborhoods wiped out by recent wildfires now appear block after block of gray-brown ash. and broken. The sun’s rays reflected the skeletons of houses, restaurants and shops.

The only bright colors seen from a helicopter flight over the fire-ravaged areas on Wednesday came from a few red cars and a yellow one. Traffic is slow as residents in most of the region are still being quarantined.

Some stone chimneys and trees stand defiant in Altadena, the city that suffered the worst of the Easton Fire.

On one street a white picket fence was left unscathed from the inferno, its gate open, but the house a few steps away burned to the ground. Another area showed nearly a dozen houses intact while others around them were on fire.

Several backyard swimming pools, burned cars and twisted metal from houses can be seen from the sky.

To the west, the Palisades Fire has scarred the hillside where the upscale enclave offers postcard-perfect views of the Pacific Ocean.

Since the two fires broke out on January 7, they have burned an area roughly the size of Washington, DC, killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal said. Fire.

On Wednesday, the Eaton (NYSE:) fire is 91% contained and the Palisades Fire is 68% contained.

Smoke from a new fire rose north of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Hughes Fire quickly spread to 9,400 acres (38 square km), forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.