Firefighters make stand as winds drive L.A. wildfires

LOS ANGELES — Flames whirled dangerously close to homes Tuesday as gusty Santa Ana winds sent the biggest of Southern California's wildfires flaring in hilly brushlands on Los Angeles' northern edge and along subdivisions to the west.

Firefighters with hoses guarded houses as helicopters unleashed loads of water on hot spots of the more than 20-square-mile blaze, that charred slopes above the San Fernando Valley communities of Porter Ranch and Granada Hills.

Flames then pushed west to the rolling grasslands of Ventura County and made runs toward Simi Valley neighborhoods of modern homes defended by a broad firebreak, helicopters, airplanes and ground crews.

The fire is one of three major blazes that have burned more than 34 square miles of Southern California, destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes this week. One man died in the flames, and a motorist was killed in a crash as a fire neared a freeway.

Fifteen homes and 47 outbuildings were destroyed in the Porter Ranch area, and six other homes were damaged, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Ron Haralson. Officials said Tuesday night they did not know how much of the fire was contained.

Ten miles away, there was major progress against Los Angeles' other big wildfire.

A 7 ½-square-mile blaze in the northeastern San Fernando Valley was 80 percent contained, and some evacuees were allowed to go home. But people who lived in an area where 38 mobile homes were destroyed were not permitted to return.

On the north coast of San Diego County, a 3,600-acre fire at the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton was 60 percent contained. Evacuation orders were largely lifted for about 2,000 Marine Corps personnel and family members in military housing and residents of about 1,500 homes in neighboring Oceanside.

In eastern San Diego County along the U.S.-Mexico border, a 200-acre fire that forced residents from 300 homes in the community of Campo was 70 percent contained and evacuations were canceled.

The outbreak of fires followed the weekend arrival of the first significant Santa Ana winds of the fall.

The National Weather Service said the intensity of the winds was diminishing but warned there would still be strong gusts. Warnings for critical weather conditions were to be in effect until tonight.