Three Southern California wildfires torched dozens of mountain homes, tore through a ski resort and forced thousands to evacuate in towns and cities east of Los Angeles on Wednesday.Around 40 homes and cabins burned in the villages of Mount Baldy and Wrightwood and flames damaged lifts at the nearby Mountain High ski resort,

California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023.

The fires sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave that finally broke Wednesday. The cooler temperatures brought the prospect of firefighters finally making headway against the flames.