Multiple wildfires, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, are raging across southern California early Thursday, leaving at least 5 dead and burning more than 27,000 acres, officials say. The Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles is the most recent to break out.

Firefighters are making progress slowing the major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and caused thousands of people to flee their homes.

Major fires have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena, and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Wildfires raged for the third straight day, destroying swaths of America’s most populated county and displacing tens of thousands of residents, with firefighters struggling to contain the blazes.At least four infernos were simultaneously burning around Los Angeles,

With so many people displaced and looking for rentals, the region’s housing options could grow even scarcer and more expensive.

National Geographic's staff photographer—who has decades of experience covering wildfires—weighs in on why the latest fires are so devastating.