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Los Angeles: Wildfires continued to burn foothills and canyons on the northern fringe of Los Angeles, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and the destruction of dozens of homes.
In Southern California's first big wildfires of the season, a homeless man was found dead with his dog beneath a highway overpass swept by flames, authorities said.
Another person was killed in a collision on a freeway engulfed in smoke as police scrambled to shut down the road.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, putting additional state resources at the disposal of local fire departments.
Residents were warned to stay on alert as strong winds were forecast.
More than 1,000 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft battled the Marek fire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley and the Sesnon Fire at the west end.
About 1,200 people evacuated due to the Marek Fire. In San Diego County, a wildfire that began on a training range at Camp Pendleton forced the evacuation of some 1,400.
The first of two blazes erupted early on Sunday on the edge of the Angeles National Forest and by midday on Monday had charred roughly 5,000 acres of tinder-dry brush and chaparral in the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley.
A separate brush fire flared on Monday in the foothills to the west and quickly consumed 3,000 acres, prompting the evacuation of hundreds more homes. Authorities said one flank of that blaze was threatening an area of about 1,500 homes.
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