News; Wildfire makes menacing advance near Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — A deadly wildfire destroyed more than four dozen homes as it blackened a wide swath of tinder-dry Southern California forest, forced thousands of residents to flee and burned dangerously close Monday to a vital mountaintop broadcasting complex.

Fire crews battling the blaze in the Angeles National Forest tried desperately to beat back the flames and prayed for weather conditions to ease. The fire was the largest of at least eight burning across California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity.

The fire scorched 164 square miles of brush, destroyed 53 homes and threatened more than 12,000 others, but the lack of wind kept them from driving stormily into the hearts of the dense suburbs northeast of Los Angeles.