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.

The number of deceased people has increased to 10 as authorities and the medical examiner continue to respond to reported fatalities.

Rows of cars at a dealership, blasted by flames, looked like they had been bombed. A man wearing a mask walked by debris of a neighborhood destroyed. A couple, arms around each other, looked at what was left of their smoldering home. A statue of a human, without a head, lay on a street.

At least 30,000 residents in Southern California were forced to evacuate due to multiple devastating wildfires that have destroyed thousands of acres in the area. The first fire reportedly started in the Pacific Palisades community in Los Angeles,

Strong winds that sent wildfires ripping through the mountains and foothills around Los Angeles on Tuesday fed a spectacle of smoke, flames and flight.