By Joe Brock ALTADENA, California (Reuters) -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 started as a brush fire in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills amid windstorm conditions. By mid-Thursday morning, the fire was stopped, an official said.

The Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Kenneth fires are burning in Southern California, destroying more than 12,000 structures.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.