Reporters have spent days navigating people home and keeping them out of harm’s way, with guidance beyond the turn-by-turn. Where a road might appear open on an electronic map, it might in reality be under a miasma of smoke too painful for breathing. A side street may seem passable, but just out of sight, a fire could be barreling down.

Unlike a pileup or a road closed for construction, the blazes are also a breaking news event, throwing traffic reporters into the same mix as their news anchor counterparts, said Sioux-z Jessup, a traffic anchor.

“What’s really challenging is that there are so many fires burning right now, and I am trying to get the most accurate information to the most amount of people,” Ms. Jessup said. Along with street closings and alternate routes, she said, she has spent days posting tips on Twitter, like the safest kind of gas mask to wear. “You want to give them the evacuation centers, and the school closures, and the wind conditions,” she said. “I’m trying to provide anything that they need.”

At 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, Ms. Jessup went live on the air. “Folks, we have now six fires burning in Southern California,” she said, facing the camera. She rattled off the closings, followed by a list of evacuation centers and the number of structures and acres threatened by a fire that had erupted that morning.

The conditions have introduced tremendous reporting challenges. The buffeting winds of up to 60 miles per hour that have fed the fire have grounded some traffic aircraft. Only the hardiest helicopters (more expensive ones usually operated by television stations) can withstand the current air conditions, said Desmond Shaw, who reports for both radio and TV. It has been too dangerous to fly the Cessna he reports from for KNX 1070 radio since the fires ignited. Like many of his colleagues, he must cover the story from the ground this time.