A rapidly growing wildfire in Southern California triggered mandatory evacuations as it burned uncontained across about 200 acres of an upscale neighborhood over Wednesday night, authorities said.

Driving the news: The brush fire has burned at least 24 coastal homes as winds caused it to quickly spread across dry vegetation after igniting mid-afternoon near Aliso Wood Canyon, between Laguna Niguel and Laguna Beach, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

By the numbers: "More than 4,100 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents in the Southwest and Southern areas," per the National Interagency Fire Center.

The big picture: A heat wave combined with long-term drought and relentlessly high winds is yielding a historically prolonged period of high wildfire risk across much of the Southwest, and human-caused climate change is exacerbating the problem, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes.

Meanwhile, California entered the dry season with its water resources in a precarious position, having seen its driest start to the year on record.