As Los Angeles is gripped by wildfires that resemble a Hollywood disaster movie, the city's vast entertainment industry is already counting the costs of yet another drastic setback that its workers can ill-afford.

The fires around Los Angeles arrived just as Hollywood's awards season kicked off. It's an ominous sign at a time when film and TV production is already down.

Fires ripping through the Los Angeles area have killed at least 16 people, displaced thousands of others and destroyed more than 12,000 structures while burning through an area larger than the city of San Francisco.