Giving Compass' Take:

• While this California fire season has been particularly destructive, analysts say the worst is yet to come because precipitation has been coming later in the season, concentrated in the darkest winter months, rather than the fall.

• How can donors help the families and communities that are continuously threatened by wildfires? What preemptive measures can be taken to avoid such tragedies?

• Here's how to give immediate relief to those affected by the latest wildfires in Southern California.

At least 25 people have been killed by wildfires raging across California, as the state battles with its deadliest fire season in decades.

Firefighters are warring with blazes on both sides of the state. In the north, the so-called Camp Fire has become the largest and most destructive fire in state history, killing at least 23 people and consuming 109,000 acres. In its trail of ash stand the smoldering ruins of Paradise, California, a city of 26,000 people until this week.

The Camp Fire is only about a quarter contained, and it still threatens the edge of Chico, the largest city in Butte County. The Camp Fire got its jolly name through a fluke: Most Western wildfires are named after where they started, and the Camp Fire began on Camp Creek Road.

In the south, firefighters are battling the Woolsey Fire, which has grown with the help of hot, howling Santa Ana winds. That fire has killed two people and devoured more than 83,000 acres, destroying buildings across Ventura County. It’s only 10 percent contained, and the Santa Anas are expected to pick up again on Sunday afternoon. (The Santa Ana winds worsened last year’s fires, as well.)

Read the full article on California's wildfires and what comes next by Robinson Meyer at The Atlantic.