Dar es Salaam, Jan. 10 -- LOS ANGELES: At least 10 people have been killed and some 10,000 homes and other buildings have been burned in wildfires that have ravaged multiple parts of Los Angeles in California the most populous state of the United States.

Nearly 180,000 residents in different neighbourhoods of Los Angeles city have been ordered to evacuate as the fires, which erupted on Tuesday, continue to rapidly spread, fuelled by high winds.

So how big are the fires at present, and how did they begin? What started the California wildfires? The first fire started in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles at 10:30am (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

Inves...