2 big wildfires in LA-area foothills burn toward each other

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two wildfires that together burned 7 square miles and drove several hundred people from their homes in foothill suburbs of Los Angeles were growing fast and surging closer to each other.

Aggravated by triple-digit heat that hastened similar fires from the Pacific Coast to New Mexico, the two blazes erupted Monday near Azusa and Duarte and gave a big scare to homeowners before burning mostly away from the cities and toward the Angeles National Forest.

Charlie Downing, out of breath and with his shirt off because of the heat, said when he first smelled fire and felt heat that he ran outside of his house in Duarte and was astonished by size and nearness of the flames.

"I came running over just to look and it was 15 to 20 feet in the air," Downing told reporters. "By the time I came back and told my grandma and my kids to get in the car, it was right by the car."

He and two neighbors sprayed the flames with their yard hoses until firefighters arrived minutes later.

It was "very fortunate" that the fire then shifted toward the mountains, though it could easily move back during the night, Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief John B. Tripp said.

"If we get down-canyon winds, it could shift and homes could be in danger again," Tripp said.

The fires were less than 2 miles apart, burning out of control, and could soon merge into one, authorities said.