Wind lull calms California fires

Nolan Torrez examines the ruins of his grandparent's home

Firefighters in southern California are taking advantage of a break in the weather to contain the remaining major wildfires near San Diego.

The warmer winds that fuelled the fires earlier in the week are expected to return on Sunday.

As the threat from the fires has eased, thousands of evacuees have been able to leave shelters, some to find their homes piles of blackened rubble.

At least 14 people have died as a result of the fires.

'War zone'

Damage in San Diego county alone is estimated at about $1bn (£487m) with nearly 800 sq miles (2,072 sq km) of land scorched.

At least 1,800 homes and other buildings have been destroyed by the flames.

In San Diego, where more than 500,000 people were evacuated, emergency officials said they were focussing on moving people back to their homes.

We want to take advantage of the conditions while we have them Randy Metz Assistant Fire Marshall

A sports stadium that sheltered 10,000 evacuees at the height of the fires was closing on Friday.

It could take several days for some people to return to their homes as roads and bridges in the burnt areas have to be checked for structural damage, says the BBC's Richard Lister in San Diego.

One man returned to his house in suburban San Diego to find it was one of 30 on the street consumed by the flames.

"It's just totally wiped out. All the trees are black... It just reminded me of Vietnam. It just reminded me of a war zone," the Vietnam war veteran told Reuters news agency.

The authorities have set up crisis centres to help people deal with insurance claims or apply for federal assistance, says our correspondent.

Change in weather

President George W Bush visited the devastated areas on Thursday and said the federal government would provide every help to victims of the fires.

While, in the Los Angeles area, many wildfires were almost out, several major fires still burned in Orange and San Diego counties putting thousands of homes at risk.

TACKLING THE FLAMES 8,000 firefighters - including a number of prison teams 1,500 national guards 50 helicopters 55 firefighting planes Source: Office of Emergency Services Fema's 'fake' conference Little rest for fire crews Evacuees' upmarket home

Meteorologists are forecasting a return of warm, dry offshore winds on Sunday, although they are not expected to be as strong as the Santa Ana winds earlier in the week that gusted up to 100mph (160km/h).

Those winds, blowing from the east, fuelled the fires in the forests and scrubland of southern California that had been left dry after a summer with little rain.

Firefighters have benefited from cooler, more humid, winds blowing in from the Pacific, allowing them to contain most of the blazes.

"We want to take advantage of the conditions while we have them," Assistant Fire Marshall Randy Metz told the AFP news agency.

Working with crews fighting the 27,000 acre (11,000 hectare) Santiago fire in Orange County, he said "our aim is to have established fire lines by Sunday".

Bodies found

Police suspect arsonists of setting at least two of the fires. Altogether, at least seven people are known to have died from the fires, another seven people have died in related incidents.

Detailed maps of the fires Battling the inferno Readers' experiences

Border patrol agents found the charred bodies of four people - thought to be three men and a woman - near the Mexican border.

The area is near a major corridor for illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico.

At least 60 people were reported to have been injured, including a number of firefighters.

More than 10,000 firefighters have been working to douse the flames in an area stretching from Santa Barbara down to the Mexican border.