A wildfire scorching its way from the mountains to the desert north-east of Los Angeles threatened more than 1,000 homes on Tuesday, as crews across the west continued to battle dozens of major blazes.
The Bobcat fire was advancing at a mile or two an hour at times and continued to threaten the Mojave desert town of Pearblossom after burning into the Antelope Valley foothill area, on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains from Los Angeles.
The blaze that began on 6 September destroyed or damaged at least 29 homes and other buildings, including some in the Juniper Hills area, with the toll likely to be around 85 when damage assessment teams complete their work, authorities said.
Firefighters also battled flareups near Mount Wilson, which overlooks greater LA and has a historic observatory and numerous broadcast antennas.
The fire was pushed by erratic winds over the weekend, although they had died down by Monday and were expected to remain light through Tuesday. Near Mount…
