If you have been watching the wildfires in southern California, you may be hearing terms you may not recognize. When a wildfire is burning, the rate at which the fire burns isn’t always consistent. That’s what can make fighting these fires so dangerous and unpredictable.

A flare-up is a sudden and short-lived increase in the intensity of the spread of a wildfire. During a flare-up, the flames will rapidly accelerate for a short period of time. This flare-up is many times due to a change in wind conditions or the presence of readily combustible fuel - which is a material that can burn rapidly or catch fire very easily.

Firefighters always have to be ready for the potential for a flare-up and react quickly if there’s a sudden change or acceleration in which the fire is burning. Luckily, during a flare-up, firefighters usually don’t have to drastically change their control plans because the flare-ups only last for a short amount of time.

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MORE: The Latest On The California Wildfires

This segment originally appeared in today's edition of the Morning Brief newsletter. Sign up here to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.