Strong Santa Ana winds are hitting fire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday morning, but the winds will relax later in the day and the red flag warning will end Friday night.

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.

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