How Authorities Define Fire ‘Containment’ and ‘Control’

As wildfires spread across Los Angeles, authorities are struggling to contain the blazes, which the public can track via CAL FIRE, a web service provided by the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

As of late Thursday, the Sunset fire in Hollywood Hills, which broke out on Wednesday, has been fully contained, while five other fires—including the first and largest Palisades fire as well as the Eaton, Hurst, Kenneth, and Lidia fires—remain active and uncontrolled (threatening to destroy life...