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Residents Return As Firefighters Gain Upper Hand On Calabasas Wildfire

CALABASAS (CBSLA.com/AP) A wildfire that sparked when a car accident brought down power lines in Calabasas has been reduced to mostly embers, and thousands of people driven from their homes have all been cleared to return.

As of Monday morning, the blaze burning near the prosperous and semi-rural neighborhoods remained at 81 percent containment, up from 30 percent at daybreak Sunday.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory for the western San Fernando Valley and northwest Los Angeles County coastal area.

Firefighters hiked up steep canyons to get to the fire, whose growth stopped at just over 500 acres, and used aircraft to make water drops along its edges, Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said.

At the height of the fire, about 3,000 homes were threatened and about 5,000 residents were under evacuation orders. The fire destroyed one commercial building, Tripp said.

To the southeast, a smoky wildfire burning in Riverside County was 65 percent contained Sunday. The blaze that broke out a day earlier along Interstate 15 in Temecula charred about 140 acres of dry brush.

To the north in Monterey County, a wildfire that has charred 3,500 acres of grass and brush in the Los Padres National Forest has prompted some evacuations and is threatening structures.

About 400 firefighters battled the blaze Sunday on land and by air with air tankers and helicopters. The fire started Saturday afternoon west of King City.

Three firefighters sustained minor injuries, CBS2's Jasmine Viel reported.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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