Fierce gusts known as Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into devastating infernos that leveled huge tranches of neighborhoods around America’s second-largest city, which has also been hit by drought.

The National Weather Service has issued a rare warning of a “particularly dangerous situation”, beginning overnight on Monday into Tuesday with severe fire conditions through Wednesday. There could be sustained winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70mph.

“We are not in the clear as of yet. We must not let our guard down,” the LA fire department chief, Kristin Crowley, said during a Monday morning news briefing.