Los Angeles, Oct 29: Firefighters beat back flames that had threatened hundreds of homes yesterday in Northwest Los Angeles, one of several massive wildfires burning up thousands of acres (hectares) of land across Southern California and Northern Mexico. The fires, most which have been raging since Saturday, have killed 17 people - 15 in the US and two in Mexico - and destroyed 1,552 homes so far. It is one of the most destructive and deadly wildfire disasters in California history.

More than 10,000 firefighters were battling the flames, which by yesterday had already cost the state more than 24 million dollar.


In San Diego county, two major blazes were threatening to merge and destroy more homes. Even so, exhausted firefighters were being pull off duty to rest. "They`re so fatigued that despite the fact the fire perimeter might become much larger, we`re not willing to let the firefighters continue any further," said Rich Hawkins, a forest service fire chief. "It`s like war. This whole fire has been a war so far."


From the suburbs Northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, about 100 km south of the border, the fires have consumed more than 208,800 hectares of brush, forest and homes. That`s about 2050 square km, roughly three-quarters the total area of the island of Cyprus.

The fires also knocked out power to tens of thousands of people, closed highways and disrupted air travel. Bureau Report