At least 5 are dead and thousands have fled their homes as multiple wildfires fueled by Santa Ana winds blasted across Southern California.

At least five people are dead and many more injured as several fires broke out across Southern California amid historically dry and windy conditions.

When the air is warm and dry, transpiration and evaporation also suck water out of the plants and soil. That leaves dry vegetation that can provide fuel for flying embers to spread wildfires, as the Los Angeles area saw in early January.

LOS ANGELES − As multiple wildfires continue to burn through Southern California, evacuation orders remain in place throughout the region through at least Thursday. Authorities continue to investigating the causes of three wildfires that began burning in Southern California on Tuesday and two fires that sparked north of Los Angeles and in Hollywood on Wednesday.

Multiple major wildfires are leaving a trail of destruction and death in the Los Angeles area. A handful of wildfires that kicked up Tuesday, powered by high winds and dry conditions, have exploded in size.

Approximately 85% of wildfires in the US are human-caused, stemming from unattended campfires, equipment malfunctions, worsened by climate change.

In 2019, the number of homeowners’ policies in California that were not renewed jumped by more than thirty per cent. In 2023, two giant insurers, State Farm and Allstate, announced that they would stop writing new policies for various forms of property insurance in California.

The insurance industry is pushing back against Vice President Kamala Harris suggesting carriers canceled the policies of some California wildfire victims, calling her claims "false."

Insurance companies and rates haven’t kept up with increasingly catastrophic events like the California wildfires or hurricanes that recently hit Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. It can put