Firefighters battle to tame Los Angeles-area wildfires

(Reuters) - Firefighters were working to expand fire-breaks on Wednesday around two wildfires blazing across drought-parched foothills northeast of Los Angeles, as evacuation orders for hundreds of residents stretched into a second day, authorities said.

The fires, jointly referred to by authorities as the San Gabriel Complex, have charred about 4,900 acres (1,983 hectares) in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Forest Service said in a post on Twitter.

Just 10 percent of the fires, which started a few miles apart early on Monday, have been contained, it said.

Nearly 800 homes were under evacuation orders on Wednesday due to the flames, fueled largely by chaparral and severe heat.

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No property losses or serious injuries were reported, and officials said late Tuesday the flames appeared to be moving toward remote wilderness areas.

While the cause of the fires has not been determined, some 95 percent of wildfires that burn through tangled, thorny chaparral vegetation in California is caused by humans, the Forest Service said.