An aerial view shows ash and debris from the Los Angeles wildfires By Reuters

Posted by Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – From the air, once-thriving areas of Los Angeles that have been wiped out by recent wildfires now appear as a pile of brown ash and debris. Sunlight illuminates the facades of houses, restaurants and shops.

The only bright colors seen from a helicopter over the fire-ravaged areas on Wednesday came from a few red cars and one yellow. Traffic was light as many residents of the area were still closed.

Some chimneys of stone and wood were unbelievably tall in Altadena, a village that bore a small fraction of the Easton Fire.

In another street a white picket fence was left undamaged from the fire, its gate opened, but a house a few steps away was burned to the ground. Another area showed about 12 houses still standing while others near it were burnt.

Several backyard swimming pools, burnt out cars and twisted metal from homes could be seen in the sky.

To the west, the Palisades Fire made a scar on the hillside where the top offers a beautiful view of the post 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 about 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.

From Wednesday, the Eaton (NYSE:) Fire was 91% and the Palisades Fire was 68%.

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