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.

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.

Multiple wildfires, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, are raging across Southern California Friday, leaving at least 10 dead and burning more than 10,000 homes across 27,000 acres, officials say.

A pause in the fierce winds that super-charged the ring of wildfires that devastated Los Angeles this week helped crews make progress in bringing the infernos under control on Friday but strong gusts could return over the weekend,