LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif., (Reuters) – A wildfire  in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened  10,000 homes yesterday, and California Governor Arnold  Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for  the “out of control” and “very dangerous” blaze.

The heat-driven fire nearly doubled in size overnight and  has now burned 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of thick,  bone-dry brush in the mountains above five towns, a 12-mile (19  km) stretch from La Crescenta to La Canada Flintridge, the  California Fire Department said.

Authorities have ordered residents to evacuate about 2,000  homes threatened by the fire about 15 miles (24 km) northeast  of downtown Los Angeles.

“These fires are still totally out of control,”  Schwarzenegger told reporters at the firefighters’ command post  in Lake View Terrace, California. “This is a huge and is a very  dangerous fire. The fire is moving very close to homes and to  structures… this is why it’s important to pay close attention  to the evacuation.”

In La Crescenta, the streets were deserted yesterday  afternoon except for a few residents fleeing with their  suitcases and other belongings on foot.

Bob Sebesta, 47, sat watching the burning ridge from his  in-laws’ house, which everyone evacuated last night with  pictures, paperwork and “stuff you can’t replace.”

“I keep thinking I should go water the backyard,” Sebesta  said.
Three remote homes have been destroyed so far and some  10,000 others and 2,500 other buildings are in danger, as is  Mount Wilson, the nexus for key telecommunications facilities.

“That site is the nerve center for most of communication in  the Los Angeles area,” Station Fire Commander Mike Dietrich  said. “It is not out of danger as we speak.”