Comment on California wildfires burn near Los Angeles and Big Sur

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wildfires burned out of control Saturday in mountains north of Los Angeles and near Big Sur on California’s scenic Central Coast, posing a threat to some 1,300 homes, authorities said. Southern California firefighters faced another day of triple-digit heat from a dome of high pressure over the region, and while Central Coast temperatures were more moderate, conditions included winds and low humidity. The fire in northern Los Angeles County grew to more than 8½ square miles, darkening skies with smoke that spread across the city and suburbs, reducing the sun to an orange disk at times. The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that at times air would reach unhealthy levels. The fire erupted Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area near State Route 14 as the region was gripped by high heat and very low humidity. About 300 homes were under mandatory or voluntary evacuations, but none had burned. Hundreds of county and Angeles National Forest firefighters battled the blaze, aided by three dozen water-dropping helicopters and retardant-dropping airplanes. “It just continues to move.