Containing wildfires—never mind extinguishing them—in parched and windy conditions can be monstrously difficult. Dry vegetation is rocket fuel for blazes and wind both feeds the flames and spreads the embers. “The winds are like pointing an air blower at a fireplace,” says Gershunov, “except it’s not contained and it’s on a much larger scale.”

Human-driven climate change set the stage for the devastating Los Angeles wildfires by reducing rainfall, parching vegetation, and extending the dangerous overlap between flammable drought conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds.

Forecasters warn that dangerous winds will buffet Southern California for at least two more days as new wildfires broke out and a pair of major Los Angeles-area blazes burned for a third week.