Rows of cars at a dealership, blasted by flames, looked like they had been bombed. A man wearing a mask walked by debris of a neighborhood destroyed. A couple, arms around each other, looked at what was left of their smoldering home. A statue of a human, without a head, lay on a street.

Firefighters are battling 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. Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat. But […]