Containing wildfires—never mind extinguishing them—in parched and windy conditions can be monstrously difficult. Dry vegetation is rocket fuel for blazes and wind both feeds the flames and spreads the embers. “The winds are like pointing an air blower at a fireplace,” says Gershunov, “except it’s not contained and it’s on a much larger scale.”

More than an inch of rain fell in parts of Los Angeles Monday afternoon, triggering flash flood watches and warnings in areas scorched by this month's wildfires.

A new wildfire was reported today at 12:47 p.m. in Los Angeles County. The wildfire has been burning on private land. At this time, there is no information on the containment of the fire and the cause of it remains undetermined.

Rain has finally returned to wildfire-scorched Los Angeles — but now officials are warning flooding and landslides could wreak more chaos on the battered city along its “burn scars.” The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for the area from 4 p.