Dangerously high winds are expected to return to Los Angeles, jeopardising efforts to contain two massive wildfires that have levelled whole neighbourhoods, claimed the lives of at least two dozen people.

Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 80-110km/h were forecast to resume on Monday and persist through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning, the agency’s most serious fire warning.

Fire crews were able to keep the fires from spreading overnight and are preparing for increased winds in the days ahead, officials said at a press conference on Monday morning.

Officials said California was pre-positioning firefighting crews in vulnerable areas, including around the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes burning on either side of Los Angeles. More than 8500 firefighting personnel are assigned to those two fires.

At least 24 people have died since the fires began last Tuesday, and more than two dozen people are reported missing, authorities said. The fires have destroyed or damaged more than 12,000 structures.

The blazes have reduced entire neighbourhoods to smoldering ruins, leaving an apocalyptic landscape. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the firestorm could rank as the most devastating natural disaster in US history. Private forecaster AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic loss at $US135 billion to $US150 billion ($A219 billion to $A244 billion).

The return of high winds threatens the hard-won progress that crews have made in containing the fires.

Over the weekend, aerial and land-based firefighters managed to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley in the north.

That fire on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 95sq km, and stood at 14 per cent contained, a figure representing the percentage of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.

The Eaton Fire east of Los Angeles has scorched 60sq km, but firefighters increased the containment to 33 per cent.

North of the city, the Hurst Fire was 89 per cent contained, and three other fires were now 100 per cent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported.

Authorities have arrested dozens of people for violating curfews and evacuation orders, for burglary and shoplifting, for flying unauthorised drones and in at least one case for impersonating a firefighter, officials said.

President Joe Biden, who will hold another briefing on Monday afternoon on the federal response to the fires, issued a statement expressing sympathy for the victims.

“I am being frequently briefed on intensive efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles, and have directed our team to respond promptly to any request for additional federal firefighting assistance,” he said.

In anticipation of high winds returning on Monday, officials have warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million to be ready to evacuate.

As of Monday morning, more than 92,000 people in Los Angeles County were under an order to evacuate – down from a previous high of more than 150,000 – while another 89,000 faced evacuation warnings.

At a Pasadena town hall on Sunday, state and local officials told residents it still wasn’t safe to return to their fire-damaged homes, even as containment of the fire improves.

Firefighters from seven states, Canada and Mexico have converged on the Los Angeles area.