LOS ANGELES, Nov 25: Hollywood stars were among thousands of people who found themselves homeless on Sunday after wind-driven wildfires gutted nearly 50 multi-million dollar homes in the celebrity enclave of Malibu and forced scores of local residents to flee.

Fires erupted at around 3:30 am (1130 GMT) on Saturday, officials said, spreading rapidly through tinder-dry brush as winds packing gusts of up to 50 miles per hour fanned the inferno, the second major blaze to hit Malibu in a month.

By 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Sunday), around 4,650 acres (1,880 hectares) had been scorched and 51 buildings, including 49 homes, had been destroyed. A further 27 structures had been damaged, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.

In response, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reactivated a state of emergency he declared last month in response to the wildfires in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties, The Los Angeles Times reported.

A drop in winds allowed firefighters to make inroads into the blaze, which was now 25 per cent contained, officials said.

Los Angeles County fire chief Michael Freeman told a press conference that firefighters expected to reach 50 per cent containment on Sunday provided weather conditions remained favourable.

A lot will depend on the weather conditions tonight, which, based on the predictions, is pretty good, he said. He said he expected fire crews to be deployed for “five days at least.” Around 1,700 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fires throughout Saturday, backed up by 23 aircraft including water-dropping helicopters and a DC-10 which was pummeling the infernos with flame retardant.

As darkness fell, most of the fixed wing aircraft were grounded for safety reasons but many ground crews remained in place, Freeman said. Six firefighters had suffered minor injuries during the fires, officials said.

Freeman extended sympathy for home-owners who had seen property destroyed but expressed relief that the drop in winds later on Saturday had allowed firefighters to begin containing the fire.

“We’ve got to be very thankful that the winds died down ... We certainly dodged a bullet,” he said. “It could have been far, far worse than it was.

“Our hearts go out to the people who lost their homes. But a home is just material stuff and no lives were lost, and you can put a home back together again, and that’s what we look to do.” The cause of the fire, which began in the Corral Canyon area of Malibu, was not known, he added.

Last month a devastating fire destroyed 4,565 acres, six homes, two businesses and a church in Malibu.

The blaze was one of a series of state-wide infernos that left eight people dead, destroyed 2,000 homes, displaced 640,000 people and caused more than one billion dollars in damage.

Malibu, around 19 miles west of Los Angeles, is home to celebrities such as Sting, Jennifer Aniston, Mel Gibson, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Richard Gere.

Local media reports said actors Matthew McConaughey and Minnie Driver were among those forced to evacuate while Red Hot Chili Peppers bass guitarist Flea’s home was destroyed by the flames.

A text message from the rock star said his $10.5 million mansion had “burnt to a crisp,” The Los Angeles Times said.

Actress and songwriter Linda Thompson, who has lived in Malibu for 27 years, said her home had escaped major damage but reported that a neighbor’s house had been razed by the flames.

“Unfortunately, my elderly neighbour right next door — her house burned to the ground. She’s been there 35 years,” Thompson told ABC7. “...it’s just devastating,” she added.

Los Angeles Fire captain Mike Brown said strong winds had hampered early efforts to bring the flames under control.

“When you’re dealing with a wind-driven fire, the wind dictates the progression of the flames,” Brown said.

Embers from the fires were being blown up to half a mile in advance of the worst-hit areas, Brown said, causing isolated spot fires across the area.

Los Angeles has suffered record-low rainfalls this year, with just 8.15 centimetres of rain between Jan 1 and June 30 — a fifth of the average rainfall and the lowest since records began 130 years ago.—AFP