A Kiwi caught in the Los Angeles inferno has revealed what the city has been like during the fire, describing the city like a ‘ghost town’.

At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said today, and firefighters have been overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes, including in Hollywood.

Isabella Ralston, from Christchurch, has been in Los Angeles on holiday with her boyfriend, exploring the city before the fires broke out. She said since the fire started; the city has changed drastically.

“It just looks like a ghost town going through downtown LA, there’s no one out, everything’s shut because of the fire,” she said.

The Los Angeles wildfires as seen from downtown LA. Photo / Isabella Rolston

The pair are on standby for a flight out of the city. Due to fly out today, they’re unsure if the plane will operate in the conditions.

“One flight yesterday to Auckland was cancelled, so a lot of people on that flight have been pushed to later flights,” said Ralston.

“So we’re worried that the flights will oversell and we might end up stuck here.”

A Kiwi caught in the Los Angeles wildfires has described the city 'like a ghost town' since the blaze broke out. Photo / Isabella Rolston

Ralston said it feels like “pretty much the whole city is up in smoke”.

“It’s almost all the mountains surrounding the back of Los Angeles, I think most of them are all up in smoke, and then past that like Malibu all those hills are covered in fire as well,” she said.

The smell of smoke is everywhere, and air quality is quite bad, Ralson revealed.

“The whole skyline is basically just filled with dark smoke,” she said.

Smoke from the Los Angeles wildfire fills the sky, as seen from the coast. Photo / Isabella Rolston

Los Angeles correspondent Ira Spitzer spoke to Newstalk ZB about the latest on the wildfires.

“This has just been a devastating 48 hours for Los Angeles, and it’s hard to believe it’s only been that long because everything just seems dramatically different.

Spitzer described the images of the fires on both sides of the city as “apocalyptic.”

The Los Angeles County sheriff said he expected the death toll to rise, from the current confirmed number of 5 dead, as the “extent of the damage becomes clear.”

“The Palisades fire, which is the largest fire burning, has destroyed more than 2000 structures making it the largest fire in LA history.

“It’s a very difficult time.”

Spitzer said firefighters are working “around the clock” but the conditions have been difficult, as the winds spreading the fires have continued.

Up to 1500 buildings have burned in fires that have broken out around America’s second-biggest city, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes.

Hurricane-force winds whipped up fireballs that leapt from house to house in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, incinerating a swathe of California’s most desirable real estate favoured by Hollywood celebrities.

- NZ Herald