The stiff Santa Ana winds that led San Diego Gas & Electric to shut off power to 5,638 customers Tuesday will peak Wednesday, coinciding with dangerously low relative humidity in critically dry San Diego County,

Firefighters have been working to contain the flames that have devoured large swaths of the city, killed two dozen people and destroyed thousands of structures over the past week, but they warned Monday that the fierce Santa Ana winds that fed the flames are intensifying and could fuel a destructive sequel.

A growing force of firefighters battled massive infernos across the Los Angeles area on Monday as more powerful winds moved in and threatened recent progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Los Angeles firefighters braced on Tuesday for a new round of intense winds that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already killed at least 24 people, leveled entire neighborhoods and scorched an area the size of Washington,