Wildfires and brush fires can quickly spread into neighborhoods in large part because flying embers start little fires that then set homes ablaze. In the catastrophic Palisades fire, one of the city's iconic thoroughfares was severely damaged and large swaths of homes were reduced to smoldering rubble.

Two massive wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west were still burning uncontained on Thursday, but a brief respite from the fierce winds that have fanned the flames for two days allowed crews to slow their explosive spread.