Critical fire weather is expected to continue until Wednesday at the earliest, increasing the risk that fires will spread further.

A damaging Santa Ana wind event was peaking early Wednesday and was expected to stay strong through early afternoon.

More than 100,000 LA residents have been evacuated from their homes and about 29,000 acres (11,300 hectares) have been burned by the five fires as of early Thursday morning (Jan. 9.) The fires have destroyed more than 1,000 structures so far and five confirmed fatalities have been reported, according to the Associated Press (AP).