As Los Angeles recovers from its devastating wildfires, environmental engineers, urban planners and natural disaster experts are casting forward with visions of what could come next for neighborhoods that have been reduced to ash and rubble.

The Hughes Fire has now burned 8,096 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since igniting late Wednesday morning near Castaic Lake, according to Cal Fire. As more than 400 firefighters responded to the scene, an air tanker and four helicopters attacked the blaze from the air, preventing it from jumping Interstate 5, officials said.

Extreme conditions helped fuel the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes. Scientists are working to figure out how climate change played a role in the disaster.