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LOS ANGELES, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A wildfire has so far swept across more than 33,000 acres (about 134 square km) in the Santa Clarita Valley area, near Los Angeles, and destroyed at least 18 houses while forcing thousands of residents out of their homes.
Some 20,000 residents have been evacuated since the fire broke out on Friday around 2 p.m. local time (2100 GMT) near Sand Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, along the northbound Antelope Valley (14) Freeway, the sheriff's department Capt. Roosevelt Johnson told reporters at a morning news briefing.
At 7:20 p.m. local time Saturday (0220 GMT Sunday), a badly burnt body of an unidentified man was found in a car parked in the driveway of a house in the area.
The authorities are investigating the case and it is not yet clear if the person was killed by the fire, said Johnson.
Late Monday afternoon, fire officials announced that almost all evacuation orders were being lifted, but it was not immediately clear how long people will have to stay out of their homes.
Only residents are allowed back into the areas where evacuations have been lifted, so people will have to show identification.
According to the California Highway Control, law enforcement personnel standing guard at closed streets were nearly run over when people, driving carelessly, tried to get back to their homes, despite the fact that fire and law enforcement officials had repeatedly urged residents to evacuate.
"If you see smoke and fire coming in your direction, don't wait for a police officer or a deputy or a firefighter to say go," Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief John Tripp said.
Tripp said the fire was spreading at a speed of roughly 10,000 acres (about 40 square km) a day. An acre is roughly the size of a football field.
Officials also warned against any drone-flying in the fire zone, noting that aerial firefighting efforts were disrupted on Sunday as a couple of drones flew into the fire zone.
Three firefighters assigned to battle the flames lost their homes in the fire, according to officials.
Evacuation centers were established at two high schools in Santa Clarita and at Lakeview Terrace Recreation Center in Sylmar.
The fire also destroyed a western town set on the Sable Ranch, a well-known filming location, according to authorities.
Dry vegetation caused by a five-year drought, which hasn't caught fire for years, was believed to have exacerbated the blaze.
Fire officials said that even vegetation in the area that isn't dead is extremely dry, helping to fuel the rapid spread of the flames.
Authorities said Saturday night that 1,919 firefighters were battling the flames and more from the Southland were coming to assist.
The Los Angeles Fire Department sent a water-dropping helicopter to join the other four from the county fire department. Eight fixed-wing firefighting aircraft were also used to contain the blaze, according to authorities.
Residents have reported smoke-filled air and falling ash in many parts of the greater Los Angeles area as a result of the fire.
A smoke advisory was issued at midnight Sunday for the valleys of San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa Clarita, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Pomona Valley, and the central Los Angeles area, as smoke from the fire drifted southeast toward Los Angeles.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District recommended that people stay indoors and avoid using swamp coolers and wood-burning appliances.
