LA fires live updates: Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires still uncontained; multiple people dead and thousands of homes destroyed

President Joe Biden has vowed to cover all of California’s costs in fighting the fires devastating Los Angeles and surrounds, and attempted to explain an apparent “water shortage” that led local fire hydrants to run dry when they were needed most.

Biden assured southern Californians the federal government was doing “literally everything we can” to help as he convened administration officials in Washington on Thursday afternoon, local time, following the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter.

Emergency assistance grants would increase to cover 100 per cent of the state’s firefighting costs for the next 180 days, Biden said, following a request from California governor Gavin Newsom to increase the federal share from 75 per cent to 90 per cent.

The President said he instructed Newsom and local officials to spare no expense in tackling what Vice-President Kamala Harris described as an “apocalyptic” event affecting her home state.

Further federal personnel and equipment would also be sent to California including 400 firefighters, 30 planes and helicopters and eight C-130s capable of suppressing wildfires. Canada was also sending firefighters and aircraft.

Biden also addressed complaints that fire hydrants in the ravaged areas had run dry due to a “water shortage”, which political figures from Donald Trump down have blamed on the state’s Democratic leadership.

“The fact is the utilities understandably shut off power because they were worried the lines that carried energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires,” Biden said. “When it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water. That’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.”

The President said his remarks about the fire hydrants were based on his discussions with Newsom. Local officials were now bringing in generators to get the hydrant pumps working again, he added.