Some 40 homes have been destroyed and 2,000 residents were ordered to evacuate in the worst wildfires of the year so far, dpa cited officials as saying Wednesday. The largest fire burned its way through 4,400 acres near the hamlet of Tehachapi some 180 kilometres north of Los Angeles. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the surrounding Kern County. The fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in the remote mountainous territory and 250 firefighters were battling the blaze Wednesday morning. "The wind has been the real factor out here," Kern County Fire Department spokesman Anthony Romero told the Bakersfield Californian.
