Hundreds of firefighters are struggling to battle wildfires that are burning across California. Hundreds of homes have already been devastated and thousands of residents were forced to evacuate the area they call home.

Authorities estimated that at least 700 residences have been burnt by the wildfires. Many of those houses were multi-million-dollar residences of wealthy people that bought property in the area. The blaze, which stretched from Santa Barbara to southeast of Los Angeles, also scorched about 18,600 acres (7,500 hectares). About 210 homes in the luxurious neighborhood of Montecito (near Santa Barbara) were incinerated.

Local authorities issued as much as 50,000 evacuation order. Only 11 injuries were reported in the area struck by the fire.

A fire struck LA on Friday and several crews will soon be sent into the ground zero of the Los Angeles fire to look for victims or survivors. The worst-hit part of LA was Sylmar, a suburban mobile home park. More than 500 homes were destroyed there. The LAPD sent cadaver dogs to search for victims and there are fears that several of the elderly people couldn’t get out in time.

"One of the things people take when they flee is their vehicles, so we're concerned in the sense of, are there potentially people who did not get out?," said Los Angeles Police Department chief William Bratton.

LA fire officials said the firefighters are making huge efforts to battle the wildfire and they managed to contain it in a proportion of 30% so far. The slight advance in containing the wildfire was also due to the fact that the winds have settled down.

As much as 2,000 firefighters with helicopters, bulldozers and engines were fighting to contain the fire.

The cause of the wildfire is still unknown and under investigation, authorities said.