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Los Angeles braced for near “hurricane force” winds Monday that weather forecasters said could fuel the devastating wildfires that swept through southern California last week.

While firefighters struggle to contain the deadly flames continuing to rage in the suburbs of the second largest US city, the National Weather Service issued a “red flag alert” warning amid worsening conditions.

Winds of up to 75 miles per hour are expected to hit the region from Monday night to Wednesday morning, according to the NWS, combining with extremely dry conditions to create “critical fire weather”.

“The National Weather Service is predicting near hurricane-force winds, and so we’re making immediate preparations,” LA mayor Karen Bass said Monday. “My top priority, and everyone’s priority, is to do everything we can to protect lives as these winds approach.”

Authorities since Tuesday have been battling fires that have burned more than 40,000 hectares of land. California Governor Gavin Newsom warned the fires could be the costliest disaster in US history as he clashed with president-elect Donald Trump over the state’s response.

The cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but cases are expected to increase in the coming weeks. Shares of utility group Edison International fell 12 percent on Monday after Bloomberg reported that it was being sued in a lawsuit alleging that equipment owned by its subsidiary Southern California Edison was responsible for igniting one of the fires. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The largest of the outbreaks, the Pacific Palisades The fire was only 14 percent contained as of Monday morning local time, prompting fears that strong winds in the coming days could set back progress in fighting the fires.

“Do not do anything that could ignite the fire,” the NWS warned Monday as it warned of strong winds that could create “explosive fire growth”.

The death toll reached 24 on Monday, officials said, and is expected to rise as authorities comb through the wreckage in search of missing people.

Bass said firefighters from LA and across the state are in “a proactive and strategic posture to save lives” in heavily damaged areas. About 5,000 firefighters are stationed in the Palisades area and another 3,000 on the Eaton fire near Altadena.

The disaster spilled over into the political arena, with Trump on Sunday attacking state authorities for failing to stop the destruction. “The fires are still going on in LA. The incompetent cops have no idea how to put them out,” he posted on his Truth Social network.

The future Republican president accused the governor of California, a Democrat, of depleting water reserves to protect an endangered fish species, and of refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration”. Newsom’s office said no such declaration exists.

“That error and disinformation I don’t think is going to do any good or help any of us,” Newsom told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, announcing that he invited the president-elect to visit the affected areas but has yet to receive a response. “Responding to the insults of Donald Trump, we will spend a month.”

Meanwhile, city officials warned against price gougers who inflated the prices of rental properties while thousands of people fled their homes.

LAist, a local news site, found a Zillow listing for a furnished home in Bel Air going for $29,500 a month — 86 percent higher than in September.

Cartography by Steven Bernard