Sunset Fire threatens Hollywood landmarks

• Five deaths were confirmed in one of the blazes which have razed at least 2,000 structures, including the homes of Hollywood actor Billy Crystal and media personality Paris Hilton, and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.

State of play: The Sunset Fire started around 6pm local time Wednesday. By Thursday morning it had grown to an estimated 43 acres at 0% containment near Runyon Canyon, only a few miles from the Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

• The majority of the mandatory evacuation orders spurred by the Sunset Fire were lifted by Thursday morning.
• Video from the scene Wednesday showed heavily congested roads in the densely populated area as residents raced to flee the blaze.
• L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said on X she's "deploying LAPD officers to respond to Hollywood to help alleviate evacuation traffic" and officials were "working urgently to close roads, redirect traffic and expand access for LAFD vehicles to respond to the growing fire."
• The Hollywood Bowl confirmed on X that the iconic amphitheater's staff were among those impacted by evacuation orders.

Threat level: The fires began on Tuesday as powerful Santa Ana winds moved in, reaching hurricane intensity in many places.

• While winds subsided Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, they are forecast to strengthen again, complicating firefighting efforts.
• The National Weather Service in L.A. warned that "critical" fire weather conditions will last through Friday at 6pm local time, with wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph and extremely low humidity levels.
• Downtown L.A.'s weather observing station has seen its second-driest period on record from early May to the end of December, NWS data shows, with just 0.16 inches of rain during that period. Heat waves during the summer further dried out vegetation, turning it into the equivalent of kindling during this extreme wind event.

What they're saying: Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart said Wednesday while it's normal for the region to have Santa Ana winds, the "strength of the winds is much higher" than the usual 30 to 50 miles per hour.

• "These are 50- to 80-some over 100 miles an hour," she said in a phone interview Wednesday.

• Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a Wednesday briefing: "We knew there was a potential for significant threat to our constituents due to the weather event. High, high, high winds. I've never seen the winds in my 25-year career."
• Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell added: "What we saw here in the last 24 hours is unprecedented. I've never seen anything like this."

Between the lines: Climate change is causing an increase in days with extreme wildfire weather conditions as vegetation dries out faster and temperatures warm, per Axios' senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman.

• UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a Wednesday evening livestream that "multiple studies" suggest the Santa Ana winds will become much drier in a warming climate, associated with lower relative humidity.
• "We've certainly seen some record breaking low relative humidity during Santa Ana events recently, so that extremely low humidity will continue for a couple more days, and actually the Santa Ana winds will pick back up again," Swain said.
• He added the later wind event should be "more traditional, moderate," and primarily confined to the mountains and the valley.

Go deeper: LA's wildfires sparked by rare collision of climate factors

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.