A respite in hot winds today allowed firefighters to bring a wildfire under control after it swept through a landmark Los Angeles park and forced hundreds of residents from a wealthy neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills to abandon their homes overnight.
But with temperatures set to reach an unseasonable 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) and afternoon winds a possibility, firefighters raced to stamp out the few hot spots still burning on the steep hills of bone-dry Griffith Park.
Officials said the blaze that began on Tuesday just east of the famed Hollywood sign had consumed 817 acres (330 hectares) in the nation's largest urban park, home to landmarks like the Griffith Observatory and the Greek Theater.
"The winds are in our favor and we hope we will have full containment in the next 24 hours," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told a news conference, noting that the fire was about 50 per cent contained around midday (local time).
Local officials and media were calling it the worst fire in the Hollywood area in 50 years, a harbinger of things to come as southern California experiences its driest spring on record.
"We are facing an incredibly difficult fire season," Mr Villaraigosa said, urging residents of the nation's second-largest city to clear brush. Authorities believe the blaze might have been accidental. Firefighters rescued a man who walked out of the brush with burns on his chest, saying he had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette. He was hospitalized and questioned by investigators, but had not been charged with starting the fire, officials said.
No other injuries were reported. Some of the 300 people evacuated from 150 houses were allowed to return early in the morning. Overnight, firefighters had entered homes with hoses to douse the brush from the balconies that look out onto the park's steep terrain.
Before sunrise, orange flames were visible on the ridge behind the Observatory, where scenes from James Dean's classic movie "Rebel Without a Cause" were filmed in the 1950s.
"This would be full of people on a morning like this, taking a nice hike. We lost Dante's view," said the area's city councilman, Tom LaBonge, referring to a shady perch popular with hikers. Although the zoo on the edge of the park evacuated visitors and staff on Tuesday afternoon, the animals remained inside with their caretakers.
With just a few inches of rain falling in the so-called rainy season that typically ends in April, the hills and brush of southern California are likely to see more fires.
Humidity at Griffith Park today was an extremely low 2 per cent.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order today to mobilize more personnel and equipment to respond to wildfires.
Meanwhile, the park fire worsened two of the city's legendary problems - air quality and traffic. A blanket of brown haze covered a swath of the city and its hills, prompting health officials to discourage unnecessary outside activity and exercise.
Commuters had a slower-than-usual ride around the web of freeways that surround Griffith Park, a few miles north of downtown, as several major exits were closed in the firefighting effort.