LOS ANGELES: Firefighters were slowly making progress in their battle to contain the inferno that has burned wide areas of Los Angeles` Pacific Palisades neighborhood to the ground, but spreading flames and strong winds still threatened communities in the populous San Fernando Valley on Sunday.

Aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on steep hills to stem the eastward spread of the Palisades Fire and KTLA television reported that ground crews had managed to save a number of houses, although others were lost. `LA County had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,` Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.

Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across the second-largest US city since Tuesday had killed at least 14 people as of Sunday morning. At least 16 people are estimated to be missing.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he expected the death toll to rise. `I`ve got search and rescue teams out. We`ve got cadaver dogs out and there`s likely to be a lot more,` he told NBC`s `Meet the Press`programme.

Newsom said the fires are likely to be the worst natural disaster in US history `in terms of just the costs associated with it.

Active duty military personnel are ready to support the firefighting effort, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a series of Sunday television interviews, adding the agency has urged residents to begin filing for disaster relief.

`We have the funding to support this response, to support this recovery, she told ABC`s `This Week` programme.

The blazes have damaged or destroyed 12,000 structures, fire officials said. The flames have reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, destroying the homes of the rich and famous and ordinary folk alike and leaving an apocalyptic landscape.Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades Fire spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares), consuming more homes, officials reported. Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins said that while 11pc of the Palisades Fire was now contained, it has burned more than 22,000 acres.

Hopkins told a press conference that fire had spreadintotheMandeville Canyon and threatened to jump into Brentwood, an upscale neighborhood that is home to many celebrities, and the San Fernando Valley. It also inched toward the northsouth 405 freeway.

Santa and winds Although the Santa Ana winds that have fanned the flames had calmed some over the weekend, the National Weather Service warned that stronger gusts of up to 70 mph (110 kph) could return early next week.

Local officials said they expect the strongest winds to occur on Tuesday.

Red Flag warnings remain in effect for LA and Ventura counties through to Wednesday, the NWS said. `These winds, combined with dry air and dry vegetation, will keep the fire weather threat in the area,` it said.

Conditions were expected to moderate by Thursday.

Some residents were allowed to return to the sites of their ruined homes on Saturday to see what they could salvage. Teams with the LA County Sheriff`s Department were working to sift through the rubble with dogs to search for human remains.

Evacuation orders throughout the Los Angeles area now cover 153,000 residents.

Another 166,000 residents have been warned that they may have to evacuate, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Federal help President Joe Biden spoke by phone with officials to get an update on their efforts and was briefed by aides on federal resources that were being dispatched.-Reuters