Thousands of firefighters have been battling wildfires across 45 square miles of densely populated Los Angeles County. The two largest fires, the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire near Pasadena, remain active. One of the latest, the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area, has prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people.

Evacuated residents are waiting in their cars for hours to get permission to return to Los Angeles neighborhoods devastated by the Palisades Fire, which has been burning for three weeks and destroyed thousands of homes and other structures.

More than an inch of rain fell in many areas, loosening Los Angeles hillsides burned bare by the recent blaze near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

Rain was falling across Southern California on Sunday, bringing some relief to thousands of firefighters who have been battling multiple major wildfires in the LA area.

Officials ordered evacuations in the area surrounding the Hughes Fire on Wednesday morning, located near Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County.

By Chris Kirkham, Judith Langowski and Peter Henderson LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Seven years before wildfires tore through opposite ends of the Los Angeles area, the Tubbs Fire in Northern California's Sonoma County jumped a six-lane freeway and decimated Santa Rosa's Coffey Park subdivision,

Wildfires in the Los Angeles area have burned tens of thousands ... President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California. Humanitarian groups and nonprofit organizations are ...

Real estate mogul Mauricio Umansky said California needs to work with the federal government in order to help Los Angeles rebuild from the devastating wildfires.

Crises — either real or merely perceived — can make or break political careers as news media and the voting public judge how those who hold or aspire to office respond.

Local leaders are upset about the potential dangers posed to residents by the EPA's plan to open a site to process Eaton fire debris near Lario Park.