Dozens of people are believed to have died in the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned down whole swaths of communities

The National Weather Service has extended a Red Flag Warning until Friday morning for San Diego County's inland valleys and mountains.

Santa Ana winds continued challenging firefighters on the Palisades and Eaton fires, but containment inched forward along the coast, and debris cleanup was underway in both burn scars ahead of possible rain coming over the weekend, authorities said.

The Palisades and Eaton wildfires also continue burning in the Los Angeles area, leaving parts of Southern California with devastating fire damage.

Santa Ana winds continued to gust across much of the Southland Thursday, but the were expected to back off as the day wears on, giving way to cooler conditions and even rain that could help efforts to fully douse area wildfires while also raising fears of debris flows.

The Santa Anas are expected to be most powerful Monday night into Tuesday. Fire services across the region say they are ready.

High fire danger warnings have been a recurring theme for Los Angeles in January. Here's a look at how many red flag warnings were issued this month.

LA County Sheriff says about 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders while another 23,000 were under evacuation warnings.

Firefighters fought to maintain the upper hand on a huge and rapidly moving wildfire that swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles and resulted in more than 50,000 people being put under evacuation orders or warnings.

The strong east winds that helped the Hughes Fire grow to over 9,000 acres are expected to continue into Thursday. Fire danger drops this weekend as rain moves in.

The blaze was reported just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the area of Lake Hughes Road near the 5 Freeway, according to Cal Fire.

The Hughes Fire burned more than 10,000 acres across the Castaic, forcing 55,000 residents into evacuation orders or warnings across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Thousands are under evacuation orders between Los Angeles and Ventura counties.