"Red flag" warnings advising of extreme wildfire danger have expired across the Los Angeles area, but forecasters warn that dry and windy conditions will persist and the threat of blazes remains.
The National Weather Service said the respite for fire-ravaged Los Angeles would be short, with high chances for renewed red flag warnings - when ideal fire conditions of high winds and low humidity dominate - starting again on Sunday.
Some 6.5 million people remained under a critical fire threat after the fires consumed an area nearly the size of Washington, DC, resulting in at least 25 deaths, authorities said.
Firefighters on Wednesday confronted persistently strong and dry winds fuelling two giant wildfires that have terrified Los Angeles for eight days, testing the resolve of a city upended by the worst disaster in its history.
Officials urged residents to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice, with peak wind gusts forecast to last through Thursday afternoon.
"We want to reiterate the particularly dangerous situation today. Get ready now and be prepared to leave," County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath told reporters on Wednesday.
Forecast winds up to 112km/h did not materialise on Wednesday.
Still, firefighters reported winds up to 64km/h combined with low humidity in a region that has failed to receive any appreciable rain in nine months, meaning fire threats remain.
The fires have damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures, and forced as many as 200,000 people from their homes.
Some 82,400 people were under evacuation orders and another 90,400 faced evacuation warnings as of Wednesday, County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, leaving smouldering ash and rubble.
Some 8500 firefighters from the western United States, Canada and Mexico have kept the growth of the fires in check for three days.
The Palisades Fire on the west edge of the city held steady at 96 square kilometres burned, and containment nudged up to 19 per cent.
The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the city stood at 57 sq km, with containment at 45 per cent.
A fleet of air tankers and helicopters dropped water and fire retardant into the rugged hills while ground crews with hand tools and hoses worked to contain the fires.
Aerial firefighters - or fire bombers - operate without precision equipment or autopilot, just a pilot's view through the windscreen and his experience.
"I call it 'feeling the force'," said pilot Diego Calderoni, from a New Mexico-based contractor, referring to a mystical energy in the Star Wars films.
Hundreds of visiting firefighters and emergency workers are staying outside the Rose Bowl football stadium, a base camp where colleagues build camaraderie in between shifts of 24 hours on followed by 24 hours off.
"You're all in it for the same mission," said Martin Macias of the St Helena Fire Department in Northern California.
"We all got into this as service, to make somebody's day better at the worst time."
A new fire broke out on Wednesday in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, burning 12 hectares, Cal Fire reported.
Two other fires in southern California were largely under control.
While the fires rage, critics have questioned whether the city properly prepared for fire danger in the face of National Weather Service warnings about hazardous weather, even though firefighters were on alert and able to deploy assets beforehand.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley fielded queries on Wednesday about a Los Angeles Times report that fire officials had opted against ordering 1000 firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday as fires were beginning to grow out of control.
The Times cited critics who said the outgoing shift should have been kept on duty and as many as 25 additional fire engines should have been moved into hillsides.
Crowley defended her department's preparation, saying it was impossible to know exactly where fires might break out and some firefighters needed to remain in place to field ordinary emergency calls anywhere in the city.
"We did everything in our capability to surge where we could," Crowley said.
