It was revealed, however, that 96 homes and 213 outbuildings were destroyed by the blaze, majority in its first fierce days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The cause of the fire remains unknown, so the authorities are asking the public for assistance, encouraging residents to call an anonymous tip line, 1-800-47-ARSON. A small number of evacuees have been allowed to return home, but Pitassi could not say when all the evacuations would be lifted.
Juarez said that the diner is insured, and she plans to rebuild the landmark with all the attendant memorabilia.
Overnight, as the wind prevented the blaze from any dramatic growth, firefighters built strong containment lines near Wrightwood which allowed residents of that ski resort town to repopulate the area on Saturday, he said.
The fire was 68 percent contained Saturday. “The rate of travel is extremely fast”, he said. Thousands of residents chased from their mountain and desert homes were slowly beginning to take stock of their losses as the preliminary damage assessment was released for the blaze that erupted Tuesday in drought-parched canyons 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
The fire has burned 31 square miles and destroyed 48 structures since it began August 13.
Officials announced earlier Friday that 96 homes had been destroyed by the fire since it broke out on Tuesday.
Neighbors “found the house in smoldering ruins – with no sign of the pets”, according to the wire service.
Almost 30 major blazes have burned some 1,373 square kms in eight Western states this week, as prolonged drought and unusually hot weather have intensified wildfire season, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said. Six other wildfires were burning in the state, including a blaze in rural Santa Barbara County that prompted the evacuation of a pair of campgrounds and another in San Luis Obispo County that forced the closure of the historic Hearst Castle on Saturday.
A California State Parks spokeswoman says Hearst Castle stopped giving tours because of heavy smoke.
The number of personnel battling the blaze continues to increase, with the tally exceeding 2,600 on Friday, according to officials.
In the southern Sierra Nevada, another blaze feeding on dense timber in Sequoia National Forest forced the evacuation of several tiny hamlets.
In mountains north of San Francisco, a 6-square-mile blaze was 80 percent contained after destroying 300 structures, including 189 homes and eight businesses, in the working-class ommunity of Lower Lake. All evacuation orders have been cancelled. No deaths have been reported in the latest fire, but crews assessing property damage were using cadaver dogs during searches.
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“We feel confident we can keep continuing this aggressive attack”, he said in a telephone interview.
