At the same time as the death toll in California is rising, American authorities are warning that the weather conditions are expected to get even worse on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Strong desert winds from the inland – so-called Santa Ana winds – risk not only spreading the fire at rapid speed. Additionally, the wind dries out already dry areas even more.
The really dangerous thing about those winds is that they are so extremely dry, says Anders Granström.
It's extremely low humidity, much lower than we ever get in Sweden. All dead material, such as grass and bushes, but also house facades become very dry.
Can travel far
The winds also make it very difficult to predict the course of the fire, not least because they can carry burning material over relatively long distances.
The wind is a central factor. It can be anything that is thrown away and ignites new fires further ahead, says Anders Granström.
It can start new fires hundreds of meters away and in some cases even further.
The largest fire in Sweden in modern times broke out in the border areas between Surahammar and Sala on July 31, 2014. When the forest fire was under control two weeks later, around 13,000 hectares had burned.
It is comparable in size to the fire in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles.
But that's where most of the similarities end.
"Evil conditions"
Compared to the fire-prone slopes down towards, among other things, Malibu, where buildings are mixed with fire-prone vegetation, the risk of similar fires in Sweden is relatively small.
We don't have the set of factors that generate this type of fire, says Anders Granström.
All the evil conditions – the topography, the wind, and the humidity – are worse than anything we have in Sweden.
The ongoing fires in southern California have already led to over 20 deaths and destroyed over 12,000 buildings.
Considering the weather forecast, there is a great risk that it will get even worse, notes Anders Granström.
It's not the first time it's burning there and not the first time it's burning a lot of houses. But this could be the worst episode so far, he says.
