California crews make progress on wind-stoked fires

By Syantani Chatterjee and Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Firefighters made gains on Tuesday against two deadly brush fires threatening homes on the fringes of Los Angeles for a third day, as dry, desert-borne winds that had been stoking the flames diminished.

The more ferocious of two wildfires at the northern edge of the heavily populated San Fernando Valley doubled in size, to nearly 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares), as storm-force Santa Ana winds howled through the bone-dry brush of canyons and foothills overnight.

But water-dropping helicopters resumed an all-out air assault on the blaze at daybreak, and by late morning firefighters had managed largely to steer the flames away from housing subdivisions, with the help of dwindling winds. A flare-up briefly menaced one neighborhood, but a hasty stand by ground crews and helicopters kept the blaze at bay.

Still, at least 19 buildings have been destroyed, about 3,000 people remained evacuated from hundreds of homes, and authorities urged residents to remain vigilant.

"This is the first Santa Ana event of the year, and we're not out of the water yet. We have a long way to go with this fire season," said state Deputy Fire Chief Stan Lake.

A separate fire that scorched 5,000 acres (2,025 hectares) several miles to the east was declared 70 percent contained Tuesday morning, and most of the 1,800 residents forced to flee their homes on Sunday and Monday were being allowed to return.

"I'm very, very proud of the firefighters, because yesterday when we talked ... it looked really bad," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters. "They've turned this whole thing around."

The situation appeared far more dire on Monday, with officials worried that fierce winds could push the fires across the San Fernando Valley and perhaps even to the Pacific Ocean.