The fire, which raced through territory left dry by drought and beetle infestation, prompted the evacuation of 50 homes near the tiny desert community of Anza, about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles, said Melody Lardner, a U.S. Forest Service fire information officer.
There were no injuries, she said.
Residents were allowed to return to their homes Sunday night after about 300 firefighters aided by nine aircraft battled the blaze in temperatures reaching 112 degrees. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion.
``It's not totally out but there are no big plumes of smoke in our area now,'' said James Johnson, whose brother Merl's home was in the fire's path. ``They're getting it under control.''
The fire, located partly in the San Bernardino National Forest north of state Highway 371, started shortly after 1 p.m. and expanded amid dense vegetation and hot, dry weather, Lardner said.
Residents said the fire started on the nearly 900-acre campus of Trinity Children and Family Services, a home for troubled youth.
Firefighters battled several other blazes around the state over the weekend that scorched thousands of acres and forced scores of people to evacuate their homes.
In the Angeles National Forest, nearly 700 firefighters converged on a blaze that burned 1,330 acres and destroyed two outbuildings. It was contained by Sunday evening, said U.S. Forest spokesman Howard Okamoto. The cause of the fire, first reported Saturday, remains under investigation.
In Northern California, firefighters said they expected to soon contain three other wildfires that consumed more than 4,000 acres Saturday.
The largest charred more than 3,400 acres near Copperopolis northeast of Modesto, forcing the evacuation of about 210 people. The blaze was caused by a mechanical problem with a car, California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Renee Rowe said.
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