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Less than a week ago, the year’s first wildfire embers swept across Los Angeles, carried by hurricane-strength Santa Ana winds that fueled some of California's deadliest wildfires to date.
The Palisades Fire ignited on Tuesday, and by Wednesday evening, it had scorched over 17,000 acres. Since then, Angelenos have banded together to support those who lost everything, even as the city remained on edge, a single gust away from disaster.
Now, with the Palisades and nearby Eaton fires still largely uncontained, a renewed surge of Santa Ana winds threatens to intensify the flames or spark new ones. When will these fires finally end, and what do firefighters need to gain control?
“We need Mother Nature to give us a break,” said Deputy Chief Brice Bennett of Cal Fire on Sunday. “We have the firefighters. We have the water. What we need is time.”
The Immediate Challenge
Estimating when these wildfires will be contained is fraught with uncertainty, influenced by ever-changing factors like terrain, weather, and firefighting efforts. Chief among these are wind and rain—or the absence of both.
“The weather is a critical driver in all this,” said Joe Ten Eyck, wildfire expert for the International Association of Fire Fighters. “While firefighters are making progress, they’re headed back into fire weather warnings as the Santa Ana winds return, with no rain in sight for at least 10 days.”
The National Weather Service predicts dry conditions and strong winds through midweek before temperatures cool and the winds subside. A chance of light rain next week could bring some relief, but the immediate threat remains high. A Red Flag Warning, signaling "critical fire weather conditions," is in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Wednesday evening.
Firefighters are cautiously optimistic that shifting winds could push the Palisades Fire back onto already-burned land, limiting its spread. However, these same winds could also drive flames toward untouched fuel, increasing the risk of new blazes.
The Longer Fight
Even once the fires are extinguished, recovery will be a long and arduous process. Exhausted communities face months of cleanup, rebuilding, and reckoning with the increasing frequency of such disasters in a warming world.
In less than two weeks of 2025, over 100 fires have burned nearly 40,000 acres in California—an alarming spike compared to the five-year average of 46 fires consuming just 13 acres by this point in the year. “These numbers highlight the urgency of wildfire preparedness,” Cal Fire warned, urging residents to create defensible spaces and use fire-resistant materials to safeguard their homes.
California’s wildfire history offers clues about how long these fires might last. While some of the state’s deadliest fires, such as the 2018 Camp Fire, were contained within weeks, others, like the 2020 North Complex Fire, burned for months. Factors like the scale of the blaze and its location play a major role, as does the weather.
Rebuilding After the Flames
For those affected, recovery timelines are daunting. Following the Maui wildfires of 2023, residential debris removal took months, and rebuilding efforts are expected to span years. California Governor Gavin Newsom anticipates similar challenges, with debris removal from homes and buildings likely taking six to nine months.
“It’s a Herculean effort,” Newsom said, emphasizing the complexity of cleaning up toxic debris while ensuring compatibility with future rebuilding.
The Bigger Picture
The broader challenge is preparing for a future where extreme weather events become the norm. Los Angeles County, deemed the most disaster-prone in the United States by FEMA, is working to establish climate-resilient infrastructure and communities to combat these growing risks.
Still, as exhausted residents await the end of the current crisis, the reality is clear: California’s wildfire seasons are no longer confined to a specific time of year. They’ve become a year-round threat, demanding new approaches to both prevention and recovery.