High winds fueling wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles are expected to intensify again in the early hours of Wednesday morning after a 25th person was confirmed to have died in the week-long massive wildfires.

Forecasters have once again identified an area of ​​”extreme fire danger” and highlighted the risk level for areas northwest of the city centre.

Firefighters have made further progress in extinguishing the blazes after days of calm amid expectations that increased wind speeds could further fan the four remaining blazes.

Wind speeds are expected to drop again after Wednesday, but officials stressed that rain is needed to help firefighters in their battle.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the 25th death. Thirteen others are still missing.

The Eaton Fire has burned more than 14,000 acres in the northern part of the city, but is now 35 percent contained by firefighters and has killed most of its victims.

Further west, the larger Palisades Fire has burned more than 23,000 acres and is now 18% contained. Two smaller fires also continue to burn.

Some victims of the Eaton Fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, though officials said they have not set a date for the Palisade area to be repopulated. The Palisade area got its name from an upscale area that was destroyed by fire.

As a result, tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders (nighttime curfews also apply) and thousands of homes were destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described the scenes as “unimaginable” and vowed to use her executive powers to jump-start rapid reconstruction efforts.

Another official, a Los Angeles County supervisor, said an emergency proclamation would be issued to prevent Los Angeles landlords from suspected price gouging during the crisis.

BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith Lucas said Wednesday’s critical conditions were due to moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds and very low humidity.

Winds are expected to peak again at 03:00 local time (11:00 GMT) for 12 hours, according to the local office of the National Weather Service (NWS). Wind gusts could reach 50 mph (80 km/h).

The National Weather Service warned that winds were “weaker but still strong” compared to last week.

As a result, areas northwest of Los Angeles – including Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks – are considered particularly at risk.

But conditions are expected to improve later Thursday and Friday. BBC forecaster Sarah Keith Lucas added that despite the change in wind direction, no rain was expected for at least next week. And the Santa Ana winds blamed for causing the fires could return starting Sunday.

The Pasadena Fire Marshal also said precipitation is needed.

Chad Augustin told BBC Radio 4’s Today program it had been more than 250 days without real rain in “Southern California”.

Augustine added that on Wednesday, his firefighters will be “ready to stand guard to make sure we hold the containment lines and don’t burn more structures.”