When the air is warm and dry, transpiration and evaporation also suck water out of the plants and soil. That leaves dry vegetation that can provide fuel for flying embers to spread wildfires, as the Los Angeles area saw in early January.

Firefighters have made progress battling some of the blazes. The Palisades Fire is 6% contained after scorching nearly 20,000 acres, and firefighters have made progress tackling two others, the Hurst Fire (37% contained) and the Lidia Fire (75%) contained.

LOS ANGELES − As multiple wildfires continue to burn through Southern California, evacuation orders remain in place throughout the region through at least Thursday. Authorities continue to investigating the causes of three wildfires that began burning in Southern California on Tuesday and two fires that sparked north of Los Angeles and in Hollywood on Wednesday.

Fueled by powerful winds and dry conditions, a series of ferocious wildfires erupted Tuesday and roared across the Los Angeles area, destroying hundreds of homes and killing at least 10 people.A Los Angeles County fire official said an untold number of significant injuries were linked to two of the fires,

Buildings burned and other were charred from the Eaton Fire near Altadena, California. (Credit: Erika Hernandez)