Firefighters try to contain 23,500-acre wildfire near LA

GREEN VALLEY, Calif. -- Thousands of firefighters set controlled burns and dropped water from the air Friday to contain a 23,500-acre wildfire that forced 1,500 people to flee and destroyed seven homes.

Clouds of dark smoke blew through the rural towns north of Los Angeles as the fire sparked by welders' tools crackled through thick, old brush. Some of the 2,000 firefighters fighting the blaze set controlled burns to clear out vegetation, while 14 airplanes and six helicopters attacked the flames from the air.

The blaze was ignited Wednesday and quickly quadrupled in size, becoming the most destructive of several wildfires burning in California and the drought-stricken West.

West of Los Angeles, in Ventura County, a wildfire was burning across more than 19,700 acres. It was 15 percent contained Friday.