After nine days of devastation from two Los Angeles fires, firefighters may get some weather-related respite on Thursday.

The hurricane intensity that initially fueled the fires and hampered rescue efforts has weakened to much smaller gusts.

Progress has been made in extinguishing the two fires, which total about 40,000 acres.

The worst fire to hit the second largest city in the United States has killed at least 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings.

Firefighting help has been sought from Mexico and Canada as the two largest fires in Eaton and Palisades are still burning more than a week later.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has canceled the red flag warning, but it could return in a few days.

“While there are still some lingering issues, there will be a lot of improvement tonight and tomorrow,” Ryan Kittle of the National Weather Service told AFP.

BBC weather forecaster Paul Goddard said the risk of fires remained high in parts of Southern California despite weakening winds and rising humidity, so fire warnings remained vital.

No rainfall is expected next week in California.

Officials are also keeping a close eye on Santa Ana winds, which have been blamed for starting the fires. High winds are expected to return early next week, bringing a high risk of further red flag warnings.

Wind speeds may be 30-50 mph (48-80 km/h).

Cal Fire incident manager Jim Hudson said the Palisades fire was the largest and did not grow as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.

24,000 acres have been burned. As of Thursday morning, more than 20% of cases were under control.

“Extreme danger and extreme heat continue to exist around and within this fire,” Hudson said at a press conference in Malibu on Wednesday.

Mr Hudson added that 5,100 personnel had been assigned to contain the fire.

He added: “As we move forward, we will continue to enhance containment measures when we feel safe, not only in terms of life and property, but also in terms of the spread of fires.”

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the death of a 25th person due to the fire. Some others are still missing.

The Eaton Fire has burned more than 14,000 acres north of the city and killed most of its victims. Firefighters have 45% of the fire under control.

Some victims of the Eaton fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, but tens of thousands remain under evacuation orders and nighttime curfews apply.

Thousands of homes were destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

An extreme weather attribution study by climate scientists”climatometer” concluded that human-induced climate change has exacerbated meteorological conditions that exacerbate wildfires in California.

The study found that conditions in fire-affected areas are now warmer, drier and windier than in the past.