Still, some 20,000 residents remained under evacuation orders and warnings Wednesday evening from the blaze, dubbed the Franklin Fire.

Parts of Southern California are still facing "elevated to brief "critical conditions" into Thursday night as a fast-moving wildfire that forced thousands in Malibu to evacuate continues to grow.Threat level: Red Flag warnings ended as powerful Santa Ana winds eased on Wednesday afternoon,

San Diego County edged closer to drought Tuesday, whipped by fierce and damaging Santa Ana winds that further dried out a region that hasn’t gotten a long, deep soaking of rain since March.