Officials in Los Angeles hoped that a drop in wind speeds Thursday would open a window for firefighters to take control of the fast-moving blazes that have raged unchecked this week and ravaged entire neighborhoods. But local officials added that there was still an extreme risk for those fires to spread and for other fires to break out, worsening a devastating situation that has displaced and traumatized tens of thousands of people.

The fires have killed at least five people, put nearly 180,000 people under mandatory evacuation orders and burned more than 27,000 acres, equivalent to nearly 20,000 football fields. One of the fires — the Palisades fire, in one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods — has damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings and has torched more than 17,000 acres, making it “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” said Kristin M. Crowley, Los Angeles Fire Department chief.

Despite the subsiding winds, the firestorms continued to consume buildings and turned them into barren swaths of rubble and ashes, even as helicopters and planes dropped water from the eerily orange sky and firefighters battled on the ground with a new supply of water after hydrants ran dry in previous days.

The break in the high winds will be short, forecasters said, with dangerous gusts expected to return Thursday night. They are not expected to be as strong as they were Wednesday, but forecasters said critical fire weather conditions were likely to remain Thursday.

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Here’s What Else to Know:

— Latest forecast: Forecasters warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds were expected to pick up Thursday night, with wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts up to 60 mph. Heavy winds could arrive again over the weekend and possibly next week.

— Local politics: Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles was in Ghana when devastating fires broke out Tuesday. She returned Wednesday afternoon, but her absence has drawn criticism from some residents, who say they received insufficient warning.

Related Story: Firefighters Battle Devastating Los Angeles Wildfires as Winds Calm Somewhat

— On the ground: The fires have torn through communities of every socioeconomic status and stripe, affecting mansions as well as ’70s town houses, ranches and subdivisions. Residents are overwhelmed by the pervasiveness and see themselves as being stuck in the middle of a mega-catastrophe.

— Climate context: Santa Ana winds are notorious for spreading wildfire, and they often occur in colder months. By January, though, their impacts are usually less dramatic, as the landscape is typically less flammable after rains in the fall and early winter. But this year, the rains have not come, leaving most of Southern California extremely dry. Scientists have also found that fires across the region have become faster-moving in recent decades.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Corina Knoll, Soumya Karlamangla, Mike Ives and Juliet Macur/Kyle Grillot
c. 2025 The New York Times Company