In the close-knit Los Angeles suburb of Altadena, where rows of neat bungalows once nestled in the shadow of the San Gabriel mountains, smoldering ruins and the skeletal frames of burnt out cars now lie.

The Sunset fire has grown rapidly and is threatening a swath of Los Angeles that contains the Hollywood Bowl and the Chinese Theater.

A pair of massive wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west were still burning uncontained on Thursday, two days after they ignited, but firefighters managed to beat back another blaze scorching the Hollywood Hills.