Celebrities like Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal have been forced to flee their homes in Southern California driven out by unstoppable brush fires that are devastating the region.

Firefighters were battling two raging wildfires in Southern California that forced nearly 2,000 people to evacuate.

Authorities are offering a $500,000 (€393,000) reward for the arrest of the arsonist responsible for the deaths of four firefighters in America’s worst tragedy of its kind in five years.

THE hot Santa Ana wind that has been driving California’s most destructive wildfires in history was giving way to cooler, more humid conditions yesterday, but that did little to tame the blazing tide as crews fought to save more homes.

Wildfires merged into walls of flame stretching across miles in parts of Southern California, leaving 13 people dead, burning 650 homes and frustrating overmatched firefighters who worked relentlessly against fierce winds.

With ash and smoke turning day into night, a wind-driven wildfire closed in on several Southern California communities east of Los Angeles today, destroying four houses and forcing firefighters to make their stand in back gardens.

THOUSANDS were evacuated and two major freeways were closed yesterday as flames, pushed by high winds, jumped ridges and roads in California.

The threat of hot, dry Santa Ana winds forecast this weekend prompted authorities to evacuate hundreds of people today as one of three untamed fires in southern California threatened to block their only way out.