Multiple wildfires, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, are raging across southern California Thursday, leaving at least 5 dead and burning more than 27,000 acres, officials say. Police have arrested 20 suspected looters.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters battled to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area early Thursday that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses, and other structures have been destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, and the number is expected to increase. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire.

Palisades Fire initially started 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7 in Los Angeles County. It has burned 2,925 acres after being active for 23 hours. By Wednesday morning, the fire crew has managed to contain none of the blaze. However, the cause is still being investigated.

A brush fire broke out Tuesday near the Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, and quickly exploded.

Photos show homes and infrastructure in the affluent Californian neighborhood of Pacific Palisades have been destroyed as wildfires rage through Los Angeles' suburbs. The Palisades Fire, which erupted on Tuesday,

Fires raging across Southern California have burned through several schools, though officials are still trying to get a full accounting of the damage. Palisades Charter High School, Palisades Charter Elementary School and Marquez Elementary School were significantly damaged by the Palisades fire,