Firefighters struggled on Monday to contain a major wildfire which forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes in northeastern Los Angeles.

The brush fire began burning Saturday afternoon in the foothills, but crews managed to save homes that came perilously close to being scorched by the flames, authorities said.

The fire, which was about 23 percent contained as of midday, has swallowed up about 490 acres (about 198 hectares) of vegetation. There have been no reports of injuries.

About 400 homes in the canyon were evacuated over the weekend as the fire scorched vegetation that hadn't burned in at least 30 years. But nearly 600 personnel from city, county, state and federal fire agencies have so far kept the blaze from damaging any residences.

Fire officials were evaluating conditions to determine how long the evacuation order will remain in effect, said U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Marc Peebles.

This afternoon, authorities had no estimated time for containment, although authorities in a briefing on Sunday had said they were hoping for containment in four to seven days.

Temperatures in the 90s, humidity lower than 20 percent and rough terrain hindered firefighter efforts to contain the blaze over the weekend, but the wind has been light, giving fire crews hope they can get the upper hand.

It was unclear how the fire started, but police suspected that it was probably caused by picnickers and weekend hikers.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2008)