Firefighters Race to Control California Wildfires as Winds Threaten to Spark More

Winds howled in the mountains and canyons of Los Angeles County on Friday as emergency officials there and across the state braced for weather conditions that had raised the risk of fires to critical levels. Several fires have cropped up in the last two days as strong Santa Ana winds combined with dry air and hot temperatures to create especially combustible conditions that were forecast to last into Saturday. Most were quickly contained. On Friday firefighters began to gain control of one of the most concerning, the Bryson fire, which was burning through dry brush in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu, Calif. The Bryson fire ignited late Thursday afternoon and quickly spread to more than 100 acres and forced evacuations. Late Friday morning, about 12,000 people were under evacuation warnings, according to a New York Times analysis. Image The Bryson fire began on Thursday afternoon and was about 17 percent contained by late Friday morning. Credit... David Swanson/Reuters Image The Bryson fire quickly spread to more than 100 acres, forcing evacuations. Credit... Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Friday was delivering the hottest temperatures and strongest winds of the week, with highs in the 90s and winds up to 50 miles per hour in the valleys and up to 90 m.p.h. in the mountains. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .