Temperatures in the area are near 100 degrees and humidity as low as 15 percent. The southern part of California has seen very little rain, drying out vegetation and making it "ripe to burn," the National Weather Service (NWS) for Los Angeles warned.

The Gifford Fire has scorched more than 83,000 acres of California's Central Coast, becoming the state's largest wildfire of the year so far. The massive wildfire burning in eastern San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties was 9% contained as of Wednesday,

A dozen major wildfires are burning across California, and officials warn the threat will only grow in August and September, typically the most dangerous months for wildfires.

A brush fire in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles ignited and spread quickly Thursday, forcing thousands of evacuations.

The Canyon Fire around Lake Piru in Ventura County rapidly grew to 600 acres amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds. With over 4,400 wildfires and a quarter-million acres already burned in California this year,