At least 16 people have died as wildfires rage in Los Angeles – and there are fears the number will rise.

Officials say it may take several weeks to identify victims as traditional methods – such as fingerprinting and visual identification – may not be possible.

Here is what we know about those who are reported to have died, according to their family members and international media.

Victor Shaw died trying to defend his home from the wildfire in Altadena, his family said.

The 66-year-old’s body was found on the side of the road by his property, with a garden hose in his hand, according to TV network KTLA. The property had been in Mr Shaw’s family for nearly 55 years, it reported.

Mr Shaw lived at the home with his younger sister Shari, who said she tried to get him to evacuate with her on Tuesday night as the fire moved closer.

She told KTLA that he refused because he wanted to try to fight the fire, adding that she had to flee because “the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm”.

Ms Shaw told CBS News she would miss her big brother.

“I’ll miss talking to him, joking about, travelling with him and I’ll just miss him to death,” she said. “I just hate that he had to go out like that.”

Miod died in his Malibu home, his mother Carol Smith told CNN.

The 55-year-old told Smith on Tuesday that he had a garden hose ready to protect the house, where he had been living for decades, from the encroaching fire, CNN reports.

“[His home] was his prized possession. That’s the one and only house he ever owned,” Smith said, according to the news outlet.

“Now that I’m realising how many memories he had in that home, I can understand why he didn’t want to leave.”

Friends of Randall have been posting tributes to the long-time Malibu resident on social media, sharing photos of him surfing and his red beach house.

Anthony Mitchell and his adult son Justin died at their home in Altadena as they tried to escape the wildfires, their family said.

Hajime White told the Washington Post she received a call from her 67-year-old father, in which he said “the fire’s in the yard”.

Mr Mitchell, a 67-year-old retired salesman and amputee, lived with his son Justin, who was in his early 20s and had cerebral palsy, the newspaper reported.

Another one of Mr Mitchell’s sons, Jordan, lived with the pair but he was in hospital with an infection, the Washington Post reported.

Ms White told the newspaper she had received the news that Mr Mitchell and Justin had died, adding: “It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”

Mr Mitchell was a father of four, grandfather of 11, and great-grandfather of 10, Ms White said.

Rodney Nickerson, 83, died at his home in Altadena, according to his daughter, who said her father believed the wildfire would “pass over”.

Kimiko Nickerson told KTLA her father had bought the property in 1968 and had experienced previous fires over the decades.

Rodney worked as a project engineer at Lockheed Martin for 45 years.

Ms Nickerson told CBS News that the last comment her father made to her was: “I’ll be here tomorrow.” She confirmed to the broadcaster that his body had been found.

Annette Rossilli, 85, refused to leave her Pacific Palisades home after she was told to evacuate following the start of the Palisades fire, CNN reported, citing Luxe Homecare, the company that provided in-home care for her.

She was staying in her home with her five pets: a dog, a canary, two parrots and a turtle.

Firefighters found Rossilli’s body in her car on Wednesday, according to CNN, which cites her relatives and Luxe Homecare president Fay Vahdani.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify this report and has contacted Luxe Homecare for comment.

The 32-year-old Australian citizen died when the Palisades fire broke out on Tuesday, his mother Shelley Sykes said in a post on X.

Shelley said she was with her son, who had cerebral palsy, in their 17-acre Malibu estate during the fire.

She added that Rory was in a cottage on the estate and that she had tried to put out the flames, but there was no water coming out of the hose.

“I’m totally heartbroken,” she said.

British-born Rory was born blind and had difficulty walking, but was able to regain his sight and learn to walk with the help of surgeries, going on to become an “inspirational speaker”, she shared.

He was a former child star, having appeared on the 1998 British TV series “Kiddy Kapers”.

Shelley told Australian outlet 9News that she could not lift her son because she had a broken arm.

The family of 83-year-old Erliene Kelley found out late on Thursday that she was among the victims, the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the newspaper, Ms Kelley’s granddaughter Briana Navarro said her grandmother was “adamant” that she did not want to evacuate because previous fires had never reached their house in Altadena.

On Thursday evening, the family learned that authorities had found a body in the rubble of the home. It had been more than 48 hours since Ms Navarro last heard from her grandmother.