California, Nov 03: Thousands of exhausted evacuees returned to what was left of their homes yesterday as firefighters quelled the deadly wildfires that have ravaged southern California for 13 days. But as cool weather, rain and even snow helped slow the fires' murderous advance, the new dangers of landslides, flash floods and massive air pollution loomed in their wake, officials warned.

"We have definitely turned the corner and are getting a handle on these fires," said Rob Dehart of the firefighters' Southern Command Centre. "If the weather remains co-operative, we expect to have most of them contained by midweek.

"But the biggest and best news that we have had for ages is that a lot of residents are now returning to their homes as we lift mandatory evacuation orders in a lot of affected areas."


Thousands of residents of the San Bernardino Mountains, about 80 kilometers east of Los Angeles returned home from the refugee centres where they have been holed up for days.

Gary Arnott and his family picked through the cinders of their home in the Waterman Canyon area of San Bernardino, where only 6 of more than 60 houses survived.

All they could find of the family's valuables was a pair of metal candlesticks.

Bureau Report