Blaze brushes exclusive area of Los Angeles

Firefighters avoid a wall of flames as they fight a wildfire 64km east of San Diego, California.. Picture / Reuters

LOS ANGELES - Firefighters yesterday battled a wildfire burning in a canyon near multimillion-dollar homes in an exclusive Beverly Hills neighbourhood, one of several fires in the record-breaking heat across California.

The blaze in Benedict Canyon had yesterday caused damage to only one home, and fire officials said they expected to stop the flames before more structures were burned.

Firefighters in San Diego, more than 160km to the south, spent a third day struggling to control a fierce wildfire that has blackened more than 6230ha and forced the evacuation of several neighbourhoods.

The so-called Horse Fire was only about 5 per cent contained, when officials called in a jumbo jet converted to a massive air tanker capable of dropping 54,550 litres of water or fire retardant. The US Forest Service said investigators believe the Horse Fire was started by illegal immigrants who abandoned a campfire in Horsethief Canyon.

California has been sweltering under record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures for much of July, straining the power grid and triggering a rising number of deaths.

- REUTERS