Defiant and armed Los Angeles homeowners in the scorched Altadena community have taken to the streets to defend the homes that remain standing — even if those streets have been blocked off by a police line amid evacuation orders and raging wildfires, residents say.

Authorities have arrested at least a dozen individuals in connection with looting and arson, and prosecutors in Los Angeles and neighboring Orange County have asked the governor to order stiffer penalties for looters.

Ignoring evacuation orders, Mike Leroy and Billy Theodorakopoulos told Fox News Digital they were protecting their neighborhood against looters.

The pair said they were hoping more of their neighbors would join them.

“We need the neighbors to come home so that we can take a break,” Theodorakopoulos said. “And No. 2, we need more vigilance… There’s only six of us in a three-block radius to cover all this, and there’s a lot more territory here.”

Earlier this week, a local lawyer named Aaron Lubeley told The Wall Street Journal his well-off neighborhood suddenly felt grittier as friends from outside the perimeter dropped off supplies to holdouts like himself who were defying evacuation orders.

Aaron Lubeley greets a neighbor who picked up milk outside his burned home and supplies he set out for people affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Tuesday. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

“We do feel like we’re in the Wild West,” he told the paper. 

The fires have killed at least 24 people in just over a week. Authorities say they expect to discover more fatalities.

Compounding the issue are looters and arsonists. 

Evacuation orders are mandatory, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, while evacuation warnings are advisory. Authorities are urging residents to be packed and ready to move with their pets and important papers.

Fox News’ Max Bacall contributed to this report.