Why wildfires are becoming faster and more furious

In this case, a confluence of environmental conditions came together with devastating timing. A combination of long-term drought and heavy rainfall in the days before provided the fuel, while powerful – and at times hurricane-force – winds fanned the fires into raging infernos.

At the outset, the Santa Ana winds as they are known – strong and gusty winds that blow from inland towards the coast – reached speeds of 80mph (129km/h), supercharging the inferno.

Disastrously, the high winds prevented some firefighting helicopters and planes from taking to the skies in order to dump water on the burning areas.

"Without that air support, we're basically playing whack-a-mole to prevent losses at specific points," says Ms Graeden.

These conditions come against the backdrop of climate change, which is not only increasing the risk of wildfires around the world, but also making them particularly explosive. This is when relatively small blazes rapidly "blow up" so suddenly and with such ferocity that they become difficult to control.

In California, the risk of such extremely fast-growing fires has increased by an estimated 25% due to human-caused climate change, according to some models.

Rising temperatures and prolonged periods of drought are stripping vegetation and dead plant material of their moisture, meaning when a fire does start, there can be no stopping it.

Matt Jones, an Earth system scientist at the University of East Anglia, who studies the impact of climate change on wildfires, notes that, in 2022 and 2023, LA received extraordinary amounts of rain. Some 52.46in (133cm) of precipitation hit downtown LA during this period, which was nearly a record.

That excessive rain helped plants in the area to grow but then, in 2024, the weather changed. Last year was extremely dry in contrast to the previous two years. It means that there is currently a large volume of dried-out vegetation scattered around southern California.