Evacuees sought refuge and medical care at a Red Cross-run evacuation shelter at the Westwood Recreation Center in Los Angeles. Ivette Sedano sprayed water on her home, which was destroyed in the Eaton fire. In the hilly areas east and north of downtown off Sunset Boulevard, many homes were almost completely destroyed by the Palisades fire.

National Geographic's staff photographer—who has decades of experience covering wildfires—weighs in on why the latest fires are so devastating.

Multiple wildfires fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds, have killed 10 and burned more than 35,000 acres near Los Angeles. The winds, which occur most often in the fall and winter, push dry air from over the inland deserts of California and the Southwest toward the coast, the National Weather Service said.