Extreme conditions helped drive the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

Though many Los Angeles-area parks and museums closed because of air quality or other concerns, several have reopened, including Griffith Park, the L.A. Zoo and Autry Museum of the American West.

In the era when American cities regularly caught fire, the widespread destruction seeded what looks, in retrospect, like possibility.

The death toll from the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area has risen to 29. One person died in hospital over the weekend as a result of the "Palisades" fire on the western edge of Los Angeles,

The death toll from the wildfires plaguing the Los Angeles area in the United States has risen to 29. The coroner’s office announced on Monday evening that one person died in hospital over the weekend as a result of the “Palisades’’ fire on the western edge of Los Angeles.