Firefighters work to battle three wildfires in southern California

Nov 16, 2008, 22:20 GMT

Los Angeles - Firefighters on Sunday were battling three wildfires in southern California that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to be evacuated, local media reported.

The blazes had destroyed hundreds of homes since Thursday, including 500 mobile homes in Sylmar, where officials on Sunday were use dogs to search for bodies of possible victims. About 630 structures were destroyed in that fire alone, the Los Angeles Times reported.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday called for tougher standards for mobile home construction after the extent of the destruction at the mobile home park became clear, the paper said.

The heavy winds that fanned the flames had died down somewhat on Sunday afternoon, allowing rescue workers to better battle the flames, the National Weather Service said.

Firefighting efforts had shifted largely to a blaze known as the Triangle Complex fire south of Los Angeles, where more than 26,000 residents had been evacuated and 3,500 structures were threatened, the Los Angeles Times reported online. That blaze had already destroyed or damaged 150 homes.

A third blaze in Santa Barbara about 145 kilometres north of Los Angeles was more than 75 per cent contained, the newspaper reported. It had burned some 180 homes in Santa Barbara and the upscale enclave of Montecito, which has attracted celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.

Investigators believe that blaze may have been caused by human activity.

A state of emergency had been declared in three counties.