Containing wildfires—never mind extinguishing them—in parched and windy conditions can be monstrously difficult. Dry vegetation is rocket fuel for blazes and wind both feeds the flames and spreads the embers. “The winds are like pointing an air blower at a fireplace,” says Gershunov, “except it’s not contained and it’s on a much larger scale.”

Across Los Angeles, a series of wildfires fanned by the powerful Santa Ana winds have been leveling homes in the area for nearly a week, leaving a path of record-breaking destruction in their wake. The largest of the fires,