LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of residents were evacuated from million-dollar homes in exclusive Los Angeles communities as four wildfires burned on Friday in the mountains and coastal areas around the city.
Nearly 900 homes were threatened in La Canada Flintridge from a fire that started on Wednesday in a national forest and spread toward the affluent foothill town, home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some 1,500 acres have burned.
Another fire broke out late on Thursday in the coastal enclave of Rancho Palos Verdes, forcing authorities to quickly evacuate 650 homes.
"We were very fortunate that the head of the fire ... was stopped at the backyards of those homes," said Los Angeles County fire chief deputy John Tripp. Six homes sustained some exterior damage and 100 acres were scorched.
Two other fires burned in the inland desert area and in the national forest, but no homes were threatened.
Temperatures over 100 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) and low humidity were expected to keep Los Angeles on high fire alert throughout Friday. But firefighters should benefit from the absence of high winds that normally whip up California's worst wildfires.
(Reporting by Mary Milliken; Editing by Lisa Baertlein and Vicki Allen)
