Why has the fire spread so quickly?
How dry are we talking?
Drought Monitor, Southern California is experiencing a severe drought.
Firefighters continue battling the Palisades fire as flames rage across Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 2025.Official Flickr Account of CAL FIRE/Handout/Anadolu/Getty Images
So that was what made this such a bad case.
The same winds responsible for spreading the fires are also making them harder to fight, Clements says.
The strong winds also make aerial firefighting more challenging.
But when its too windy, they cant get the aircraft in.
That was a problem on Tuesday and Tuesday night, he notes.
Aerial firefighting using bothplanes and helicopterswill continue when the wind subsides.
Now that house is starting to produce embers for the next building downwind.
Its this cascading event that continuously occurs.
Finally, the fires have been particularly difficult to contain because of their location.
Its very abrupt changing landscapes, and that can help feed fires.
What conditions are needed to stop the fires?
Ideally, it would rain, Clements says.
Some shift in the wind direction may bring in a little bit moister air.
But no major changes are expected over the next week.
