Huge wildfires erupt near LA, kill 2

More than 1,000 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft battled the 1,900-hectare Marek Fire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley, and the 2,000-hectare Sesnon Fire at the west end.

Winds blew up to 72 kph with gusts reaching 70 mph 113 kph at midday. They were forecast to diminish in the evening before roaring over 97 kph after 11 p.m local time.

Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night.

8220;It can go from here to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours,8221; Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

Authorities confirmed more than three-dozen mobile homes burned at the Marek Fire, and 19 structures 8211; some of them homes 8211; were either damaged or destroyed by the Sesnon Fire.

Commercial sites burned in both fires.

8220;It is a blowtorch we can8217;t get in front of,8221; Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido said.

As an ominous plum streamed over neighborhoods and far out to sea, fire officials alerted other communities to the west in the Ventura County city of Simi Valley and south to Malibu, 32 kms away.