The fierce winds in the Los Angeles area subsided Friday, but critical fire weather conditions remain and red flag warnings are still in place.

Dozens of communities are now under mandatory evacuation orders in Southern California with evacuation warnings affecting dozens more as crews continued battling a pair of deadly wildfires in the region Friday.

A short reprieve in the strong destructive winds has granted firefighters an opportunity to curb the spread of the deadly Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

The most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history Thursday have burned more than 54 square miles of land, destroyed thousands of structures and killed at least five people.

Weather officials have issued a red flag warning for parts of Southern California as extreme fire conditions increase.

Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks

The winds will come and go, with the strongest gusts expected early next week, especially next Monday night and into Tuesday, forecasters said.

Although the strongest wind gusts have passed through the Southern California region, another "traditional Santa Ana wind event" will move in Thursday night.