After making some progress battling wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people in the Los Angeles area, firefighters prepared for a return of dangerous winds that could again stoke the flames.

The relative calm on Sunday allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas. But even as containment increased in the worst of the fires, more bad news emerged from the ashes: The death toll surged late on Sunday with an update from the Los Angeles County medical examiner. At least 16 people were missing, a number authorities said was also likely to rise.

And the forecast was worrying. The National Weather Service issued a rare warning of a “particularly dangerous situation”, beginning from Monday till Tuesday.

It predicted severe fire conditions till Wednesday, with sustained winds of up to 64 kmph and gusts in the mountains reaching 105 kmph. The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, warned fire behaviour analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting on Sunday night.

Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighbourhoods around the nation’s second-largest city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.

In all, four fires have consumed more than 160 square kilometres, an area larger than San Francisco. The Eaton Fire near Pasadena and the Palisades Fire, in a wealthy enclave along the Pacific Coast, alone accounted for nearly 153 square kilometres. Each fire had some containment, which increased over the weekend.

Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony C. Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help firefighters fend off flames spread by renewed gusts. “We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” Marrone said. Fire retardant dropped by aircraft will act as a barrier along hillsides, officials said.

Some residents have been able to return to their homes to survey the damage.

Jim Orlandini, who lost his hardware store in Altadena, a hard-hit neighbourhood next to Pasadena, said his home of 40 years survived.

“Tuesday night we didn’t sleep at all because we figured the house was gone,” he said Sunday as he recalled the moment the fires spread to his neighbourhood.

“The whole time I was thinking, I don’t know what I’m going to find when I get back here and after 40 years, you know, you got a lot of stuff you forget about that would disappear if the house burned down. So we’re thankful that it didn’t.”

Sixteen of the 24 deaths were attributed to the Eaton Fire and eight to the Palisades fire, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Twelve were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.