Los Angeles officials told most evacuees from the wildfires on Thursday to stay away from their homes at least another week as emergency responders remove toxic waste from incinerated neighborhoods and cut off electricity and gas lines posing a hazard amid the ruins.

Firefighters are making progress, officials said, but residents must be ready for a return of powerful winds that could spread flames.

As some evacuees from the Eaton and Palisades fires begin to return home on Wednesday, a week after their neighborhoods were devastated by the destructive blazes, health officials say there's still plenty of cause for concern.