Exhausted Los Angeles firefighters on Sunday, January 19, braced for the return of yet more dangerously strong gusts, as California's governor slammed "hurricane-force winds of misinformation" surrounding blazes that have killed 27 people.
The two largest fires, which have obliterated almost 16,000 hectares and razed entire neighborhoods of the second biggest US city, were both now more than half contained, officials announced.
But the National Weather Service warned that powerful winds and very low humidity would again bring "dangerous high-end red flag fire weather conditions" from Monday, with potential gusts up to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour.
"This is the last... we hope, of the extreme" wind events, said Governor Gavin Newsom. It will be "the fourth major wind event just in the last three months − we only had two in the prior four years," he told MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki."
Officials were accused of being unprepared at the outbreak of fires this month. Now, 135 fire engines and their crews are prepositioned to tackle new flames, along with helicopters and bulldozers, said Newsom.
Firefighters said the largest conflagration, the Palisades Fire, was 52% contained. It has killed at least 10 people. Evacuation orders were lifted this weekend for dozens of neighborhoods in upscale western Los Angeles.
"Our focus is on repopulation this week, and we're moving quickly to finish urban search-and rescue-work so that utilities can safely be restored where possible," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Further east, the Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 in the Altadena suburbs, was 81% contained.
Well into its typical rainy season, Los Angeles has had almost no rain since May. Though rain is not expected imminently, Newsom warned of the need to prepare "for potential flooding in the next week or two," as rain, when it comes, pours down hillsides denuded by the fires.
"I prepositioned 2,500 National Guard. We're going to start some sandbagging operations," he said. "We're dealing with extremes that we have never dealt with in the past" due to changing climate, said the governor.