Firefighters race to contain LA wildfires as menacing winds forecast to return

Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon as strong winds are forecast to return (Jae C Hong/AP)

Firefighters raced to cut off spreading wildfires on Saturday before the return of potentially strong winds that could push the flames toward the world-famous J Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.

A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon – not far from the Pacific coast where Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities live – where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.