'We were very fortunate,' said Lillian Guarino, 89, who lives with her daughter in La Canada Flintridge, one of the most threatened of the foothill communities. 'This is the second fire we have had to go through and hopefully the last.'

Fire officials said they had won the battle to save the historic Mount Wilson Observatory, a century-old technology compound that now houses many of the television and cellphone towers that serve the Los Angeles region.

'We're pretty confident,' Los Angeles County fire inspector Edward Osorio told the Los Angeles Times. 'Mount Wilson is going to be OK.'