Crews battling multiple wildfires that raged across Los Angeles on Wednesday were up against a near-perfect storm: intense wind, low humidity and, most troubling for residents, inadequate supplies of water to contain the blazes.

The fires burning across Los Angeles County look alarming even from space. More than a thousand homes, businesses and other buildings have burned and at least two people are dead in the destructive firestorms,

Satellites high above the Earth are offering a unique view of multiple fires burning in the Los Angeles area this week. Several satellite videos shared by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the flames and large plumes of smoke as seen from space.