Much of Los Angeles County will again be facing red flag critical fire conditions Thursday as a powerful and “particularly dangerous” Santa Ana wind event continues to combine with low humidity to raise the risk of wildfires.

A wind-whipped wildfire tore through parched brush in the coastal city of Malibu near Pepperdine University on Wednesday morning, closing a section of the Pacific Coast Highway, officials said. The Broad Fire ignited southwest of the Pacific Coast Highway and South Malibu Canyon Road,

Southern California Edison has temporarily shut-off power in high-risk service areas across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties — impacting approximately 38,016

Several injuries have been reported in Southern California as wildfires spread Wednesday amid an extreme fire weather threat driven by strong Santa Ana winds.

Strong and “particularly dangerous” Santa Ana winds battered much of the Southland Wednesday, dramatically raising concerns of wildfires and prompting precautionary power outages for thousands of residents.

Down south, in spots such as Santa Ana, Irvine and Fontana and the majority of the Inland Empire, expect winds of up to 60 miles per hour. Orange County can expect temperatures to remain level in the mid to high 70s, with the Inland Empire seeing a decrease to the mid to high 60s.

Winds, waves and sunshine have been the story as a high-pressure system moves onshore. We will keep just one of those conditions in place for the weekend.

Gusty Santa Ana winds are expected to return Wednesday and continue into Thursday, bringing with them elevated fire risk, officials said.