At least nine people have died in the most destructive wildfires ripping through north and south California.

More than 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to avoid three major blazes in the state.

Firefighters were powerless in stopping a wildfire destroying the northern town of Paradise, where 35 people are missing.

A raging wildfire swept into the southern beach resort of Malibu – home to many Hollywood stars – on Friday.

Among the towns under evacuation orders is Thousand Oaks, where a gunman killed 12 people in a rampage on Wednesday.

Authorities say the Camp Fire in the north and the Woolsey Fire and Hill Fire in the south are being fanned by strong winds and dry forests.

“The magnitude of the destruction of the fire is unbelievable and heartbreaking,” said Mark Ghilarducci, of the California governor’s office.

President Trump has responded by blaming what he called gross mismanagement of the forests and warned of funding cuts.

There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018

Meteorologists have warned that dangerous conditions may continue well into next week.

more at bbc.com

A ‘firenado’ tore through this Northern California town as the ‘Camp Fire’ quickly spread through Butte County pic.twitter.com/ijA5XiNRmX

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 9, 2018

WATCH: CBS News’ @DavidBegnaud escapes an explosion while reporting on the destructive Camp Fire in Northern California. https://t.co/iLaDmz4NgV pic.twitter.com/ieRS9AKgdi

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 9, 2018

#DEVELOPING From a safe distance…just shot this video of a #FireDevil at the #Campfire near #Paradise. #abc7now @LiveDoppler7 pic.twitter.com/jS5WBsvcnV

— Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) November 9, 2018

California on fire. #WoolseyFire #CaliforniaFires pic.twitter.com/ApHFFexqwy

— ®️Red Investment ✞ (@Pharol_OI) November 10, 2018