Firefighters need heat to drop

WITH towering flames bearing down on southern California mountain towns, firefighters last night dug in to protect hundreds of homes while praying for more help from lower temperatures.

In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, relentless flames engulfed hundreds of homes on Wednesday on a wind-driven march toward the resort towns of Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead. Thousands of people were evacuated.

To the south, in San Diego County, the state's largest fire claimed the life of a firefighter when a crew was overcome by flames near Wynola. Three others were critically injured. "It just swept right over them. They probably didn't have time to get out of the way," Sergeant Conrad Grayson said.