Many watched in shock on television as their houses burned.
Since the flames broke out in and around Los Angeles, scores of residents have returned to their still-smoking neighborhoods, even as the threat of new fires remained and the country's second-largest city remained unsettled.
For some, it was a first glimpse of the harrowing reality of what was lost as the region of 13 million people grapples with the monumental challenge of dealing with the disaster and rebuilding.
Calmer winds allowed firefighters to bring the largest fires in the Los Angeles area under some control Friday before a return of gusty weather over the weekend to an area that hasn't seen rain in more than eight months.
But new evacuations were ordered Friday evening in an area that includes the Getty Museum as the fire spread on the east side of the Palisades near Interstate 405.
Bridget Berg, who was at work when she saw her Altadena home go up in flames on television, returned with her family for the first time two days later “just to make it happen.”
Her feet crunched over the broken pieces of what had been her home for 16 years.
Her children searched through the debris on the sidewalk and found a clay pot and a few keepsakes while searching for Japanese woodblock prints they wanted to retrieve.
Her husband pulled his hand from the rubble near the still-standing fireplace and held up a piece of petrified wood left to him by his grandmother.
“It's okay. It's OK,” Berg said to herself as much as to others as she took stock of the destruction and remembered the patio and pool from which her family watched the fireworks.
“It’s not like we just lost our house – everyone lost their house.”
Since the fires first broke out around a densely populated 25-mile-long area north of downtown LA, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, including homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles.
No cause has yet been determined for the largest fires.
There were allegations of leadership failure and political blame, as well as investigations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to investigate why a 100-million-gallon reservoir was out of service and some fire hydrants were empty, calling it “deeply concerning.”
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said city leaders failed her department by not allocating enough money to fight the fire.
She also criticized the lack of water.
“When a firefighter approaches a fire hydrant, we assume there is water there,” she said.
According to the LA County Coroner's Office, at least 11 people were killed, five in the Palisades fire and six in the Eaton fire.
Officials said they expected that number to rise as cadaver dogs walked through leveled neighborhoods to assess the devastation in an area larger than San Francisco.
Officials set up a center Friday where people could report missing people.
Tens of thousands of people continued to have to be evacuated and the fires have destroyed about 145 square kilometers.
The catastrophe affected everyone – from waiters to film stars. The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage, but private firms estimate it will run into the tens of billions.
The Walt Disney Co. said Friday it will donate $15 million to fight the fires and help rebuild.
The flames hit schools, churches, a synagogue, libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and local landmarks such as Will Rogers' Western Ranch House and an 1887 Queen Anne-style mansion in Altadena that was built for a wealthy man The cartographer was Andrew McNally.
Neighbors strolled through the ruins Friday, describing missing bedrooms, recently renovated kitchens and outdoor living spaces.
Some spoke of the magnificent views that lured them to their properties, their words contrasting sharply with the scene of soot and ash.
In the coastal community of Pacific Palisades, where he lived for 31 years, Greg Benton investigated, hoping to find his great-grandmother's wedding ring among the rubble.
“We just had Christmas morning here, right in front of this chimney. And this is what’s left,” he said, pointing to the blackened rubble that was once his living room. “It’s these little family heirlooms that hurt the most.”
Elsewhere in the city, people at collection points rummaged through boxes of donated items to restart their lives.
For the first time since containing the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 buildings, firefighters made progress Tuesday. Officials said Friday most evacuation orders for the area had been lifted.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, facing a critical test of her leadership skills as her city faces its biggest crisis in decades, said several smaller fires were also stopped.
Crews also gained ground on the Palisades Fire, which burned 5,300 buildings and was the most devastating fire in Los Angeles history.
California National Guard troops arrived on the streets of Altadena before dawn to help protect property in the fire rescue zone, and evening curfews were in effect to prevent looting after several previous arrests.
The extent of the devastation is staggering, even in a state that regularly experiences massive wildfires.
Anna Yeager said she and her husband agonized over returning to their beloved Altadena neighborhood near Pasadena after fleeing with their 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, their two dogs and some clothes. A neighbor told them their house was missing.
Now she regrets not taking her children's artwork, treasured cookbooks, family photos and jewelry from her mother, who died in 2012, and her husband's grandmother, who survived Auschwitz.
When the couple returned, all they saw were blocks of “chimney after chimney.”
“Power lines everywhere. There are still fires burning everywhere,” she said, adding that when they went to her house, “it was just dust.”
Charred grapefruits lay around a blackened tree in her garden, some still hanging from its branches.
The Yeager neighborhood, with its Tudor homes, planned to celebrate its 100th anniversary in May.
“You build a world for yourself and your family and you feel safe in that world, and things like this happen that you can't control,” she said.
There were remnants of the porch where Yeager had photographed her children almost daily since 2020 and planned to continue doing so until they reached high school. That gave her hope.
“The porch is still there and to me it’s a sign to rebuild and not leave,” she said. “You know, it's like saying, 'Hey, I'm still here. You can still do this.'”