Firefighters battling two blazes that have ravaged Los Angeles for nine days may get a bit of a reprieve from the weather on Thursday.
Hurricane-force winds that initially fanned the fire and hampered rescue efforts have weakened to much milder gusts.
Progress was made in containing the two largest fires that burned on a total of about 40,000 hectares.
At least 25 people have died and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed in some of the worst fires to hit America’s second-largest city.
The two largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are still burning after more than a week – and firefighting assistance has been requested from Mexico and Canada.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has lifted the red flag warnings, but they could return in a few days.
There will be “a lot of improvement for tonight and tomorrow, although there will still be some problem areas,” Ryan Kittell of the NWS told the AFP news agency.
Fire warnings remain critical and parts of southern California remain at increased risk despite easing winds and rising humidity, BBC forecaster Paul Goddard says.
No rain for California next week.
Officials are also keeping an eye on the Santa Ana winds, which have been blamed for fueling the fires. Winds are forecast to return early next week, bringing a high risk of further red flag warnings.
Winds could bring gusts of 30-50 mph (48-80 km/h).
The Palisades fire, which is the largest of the blaze, has not seen any fire growth as firefighters work to contain the flames, according to Cal Fire incident manager Jim Hudson.
24,000 hectares were burned. Over 20% was contained on Thursday morning.
“There are extreme hazards and extreme heat that still lie around the perimeter and interior of this fire,” Mr. Hudson said during a news conference in Malibu on Wednesday.
Mr. Hudson added that 5,100 people were engaged in containing the fire.
“As we move forward, we will continue to increase our containment when we feel it is safe and security is not only about lives and property, but also about fire spread,” he added.
The 25th death from the fire was confirmed by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week. Numerous other people are missing.
Most of the victims died in the Eaton fire, which burned more than 14,000 hectares in the north of the city. Firefighters localized 45% of the fire.
Some victims of the Eaton fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, but tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders – where an overnight curfew is also in place.
Thousands of homes were destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.
A study on the attribution of extreme weather conditions by climatologists with ‘Climate meter‘ concluded that the wildfires in California were fueled by meteorological conditions exacerbated by human-caused climate change.
The study found that current conditions were hotter, drier and windier compared to the past in areas affected by the fires.
