When the air is warm and dry, transpiration and evaporation also suck water out of the plants and soil. That leaves dry vegetation that can provide fuel for flying embers to spread wildfires, as the Los Angeles area saw in early January.

World Central Kitchen’s Relief Team has dispatched to Southern California to support first responders and families impacted by wildfires by providing nourishing meals. Right now, they’re based at the Pasadena Convention Center— you can donate here.

California has been hit with an exodus of property insurance companies in recent years, and the state's ongoing wildfires threaten to make the problem worse.

Lynne Levin-Guzman stood in the front yard of her 90-year old parents’ home in Los Angeles County, California, trying to protect it with a garden hose — because their insurance company no longer would.