LOS ANGELES; Firefighters made dramatic gains early today on a massive wildfire north of Los Angeles, buoyed by lower temperatures and higher humidity.

The fire had little active flames, fire spokeswoman Gail Wright said, adding: “This is a good day.” Firefighters early today touched off backfires behind homes along the edges of Angeles National Forest and bulldozers are scratching a line around the perimeter of the fire, which has burned nearly 518 square km of tinder-dry brush. Dozers still have 152 km of fire line to build.

Evacuation orders have been lifted in wide areas of La Canada Flintridge and La rescenta, but thousands of residents are still out of homes. Officials also were concerned that the wind, which had been calm overnight, would pick up this afternoon and move flames

closer to homes and a historic observatory.

US Forest Service incident commander Mike Dietrich was not willing to say a corner had been turned. “Right now if I were in a boxing match, I’d think we’re even today,” Dietrich said yesterday.

Yesterday, firefighters lit backfires and hand crews and bulldozers combed the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, cutting broad and winding fire lines, raising containment to 22 per cent. Since erupting August 26, the blaze has destroyed more than five dozen homes, killed two firefighters and forced some 12,000 people to flee their homes.