Sawt Falasteen - Los Angeles fire evacuees told no return for at least a week

Frustration is mounting among evacuees, who are angry over rules that restrict them from returning to their homes, even if the structures survived the deadly blazes.

"There was a group chat where everyone was complaining, getting mad, saying, why do they keep on locking us out of our homes?" Ronnen Miz told local broadcaster KTLA.

With 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) burned in two ferocious fires, the situation is just too dangerous, officials said.

Electricity, gas and sewage lines are wrecked, there is toxic waste everywhere, and a growing threat of hazardous mudslides or landslips, a news conference heard.

"It's going to be a while," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. "I'm going to say at minimum, at least another week, and that's an estimate, but I believe it's going to be longer than that."

At least two dozen people are known to have died in wind-driven fires that ripped through the working-class city of Altadena and the upmarket enclave of Pacific Palisades.

Luna said search teams were continuing to comb the rubble looking for victims, with the number of dead expected to rise.

The police official said authorities were also holding people back "because we believe there may be deceased victims" in some areas.

"We have to hold for the right time and the right resources to process the scene correctly," he said.

- Destabilized hillsides -

Teams from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began inspections Thursday as they work to remove pesticides, fuel and lithium batteries from the wreckage before any debris clean-up can take place.

Los Angeles County Director of Public Works Mark Pestrella said apparently unaffected structures could be hit by landslides, and any substantial rain would create dangerous debris flows.

"Both areas suffered watershed damage," he said.

"In the event that we have major rain, we do expect that all of the street areas and all the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health."

Hillsides have been destabilized by the fires, and by the huge volumes of water that firefighters used in a bid to tame them.

Photographs from the Pacific Palisades area showed one home -- undamaged by the fire -- that appeared to have broken in two after the flames were extinguished when part of a hillside collapsed.

- Inmates aiding containment -

Gusting winds that have rattled the region for more than a week, spreading the fire over a wide area, had subsided Thursday, giving firefighters a much-needed boost as they mopped up hotspots.

The work of battalions from all over the United States was being bolstered by crews of inmates, who toiled alongside regular firefighters to cut containment lines and clear brush.

Jacob Castro, who has served 29 years for his crimes, said he was grateful for the chance to help out in the fire effort and repay his debt to society.

"It's the first thing I've done in my life that I'm proud of," he told AFP.

"I love doing this, helping the community by making up for the bad decisions I made in life," said Castro, who has a coveted spot in one of the fire training camps operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"It's a chance to redeem myself."

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST