LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office Saturday evening said the confirmed death toll from the area’s wildfires has risen to 16, up from the previous confirmed 11. Five of the new total were from the Palisades Fire and 11 from the Eaton Fire, according to the coroner’s office statement. Firefighters raced Saturday to get in front of the largest and most destructive fire burning in Los Angeles as it shifted directions and grew by about 400 hectares. The Santa Ana winds that fueled the blazes are forecast to return. “We need to be aggressive out there,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Operations Chief Christian Litz told reporters at a Saturday briefing. The National Weather Service predicted winds picking up Saturday night into Sunday morning in the area and again late Monday through Tuesday morning, with sustained winds up to 48 kph and gusts up to 112 kph. The toll stood Saturday at 11 people killed, at least 13 missing and more than 12,000 structures destroyed. Officials have warned that the death toll could increase. Planes and helicopters worked together Saturday in an aerial assault, dropping water to aid the firefighters working on the ground in Mandeville Canyon and to keep the Palisades Fire from continuing to spread, according to the Los Angeles Times. The shift of the Palisades Fire, the largest of five, prompted evacuation orders, including the Brentwood and Encino neighborhoods and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. The fire is threatening the J. Paul Getty Museum and University of California, Los Angeles campus. If it jumps Interstate 405, the densely populated Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley would be in danger. Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins told reporters Saturday that 11% of the Palisades Fire is contained. The second-largest blaze, the Eaton fire, was 15% contained, according to the department. The Palisades and Eaton fires already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history. Together, they have burned through about 145 square kilometers of land and destroyed or damaged about 12,000 structures. Cal Fire is fighting five active wildfires in the Los Angeles area: the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Kenneth fires. As of Saturday, the Kenneth fire was 80% contained, the Hurst fire was 7% contained, and the Lidia fire was 100% contained, according to the Times. Even as the fires are being fought, investigations have begun. Chief among them is why the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades was empty and closed for repairs, according to the Times, and why fire hydrants did not have water. “When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said, faulting city leadership and citing budget cuts. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a “full independent review” of the city’s utilities Friday, saying in an open letter the lack of water supplies during the initial fires was “deeply troubling” and that answers were needed to learn “to how that happened.” President Joe Biden spoke by phone Saturday with Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long to discuss the latest updates on the wildfires across Los Angeles, a White House statement said. Biden convened key officials Friday to discuss the federal government’s response to the wildfires. On Thursday, he said federal resources and additional funding were made available to California. The money will be used to cover all the costs for 180 days, including temporary shelters, the removal of hazardous materials, first responder salaries, and measures to protect life. “We have an awful lot of experience with this stuff, unfortunately,” Biden told reporters Friday. “Climate change has been real. It’s been real for the last four years of our administration. We’ve seen devastating impacts.” Biden added that his administration was coordinating with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has faulted Biden and Newsom for the crisis. “He is the blame for this,” Trump wrote about Newsom on Truth Social. Trump said California’s water policies are to blame for the fires in the Los Angeles area, which is experiencing extremely dry conditions and fierce Santa Ana winds. Trump demanded that Newsom “open up the water main” in Northern California to send water south, but there is no such central water valve in the state. Some residents were allowed to return to their neighborhoods on Friday. Officials urged them not to search through the rubble, which could contain lead, arsenic, and asbestos. After damage teams evaluate the properties, residents will be able to return in protective gear. In some neighborhoods, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, teams are conducting grid searches with cadaver dogs. Various estimates say the fires burning in the Los Angeles area are likely to be the costliest ever. AccuWeather put the toll at between $135 billion and $150 billion. “This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in U.S. modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm’s chief meteorologist. Meanwhile, California’s insurance commissioner blocked insurance companies from canceling or not renewing the policies of customers in the areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires for a one-year period. Concerns have increased that this week’s fires could hasten the flow of insurers out of California. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France Presse and Reuters.