People return home as fires burn on

THOUSANDS of devastated evacuees were yesterday returning to what was left of their homes as fires continued to threaten other parts of southern California.

So far 1,800 houses have been destroyed by the wildfires that raced across nearly half a million acres fanned by desert winds.

Three people have been officially listed as having died in the fires and police are investigating whether four charred bodies, thought to be illegal immigrants, were killed by fires near the Mexican border.