| | Thousands more homes are threatened across the region |
At least one person has died and thousands of homes are at risk in seven counties where fires have scorched some 200,000 acres (81,000 hectares).
Firefighters warn that the fires, which are being fanned by hot winds, will get worse in the days ahead.
Hotter temperatures and high winds are forecast for Tuesday.
| | It was like Armageddon - it looked like the end of the world Mitch Mendler San Diego firefighter |
About 1,500 National Guardsmen have been brought in to help firefighters.
After visiting charred homes in Malibu, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said it was a "tragic time" for the US state.
"We have... the weather conditions that are perfect for huge fires all over the state," he told reporters.
"That's what we are having right now. We have a lot of wind and we have dry weather, and that's the perfect storm."
LA county supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said emergency workers had been "stressed almost beyond the point of reason".
"The winds are erratic and unpredictable," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
"There is no telling where the fires will move and when."
Malibu resident Robin Morgan told AP news agency: "It was just like one big inferno.
"We're just waiting for that knock on the door. We knew it was coming, so we were more or less prepared, but you're never really quite prepared for when you're coming down the hill. So, it was scary."
The ground is tinder-dry after a record summer heat wave.
In San Diego county, ambulances and school buses were used to move hundreds of people from hospitals, nursing homes and prisons threatened by advancing flames.
San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake said local firefighters lacked the resources to save all the homes at risk.
More than 1,500 firefighters have been battling the blazes, including one in the town of Potrero, near San Diego.
That fire killed one person and injured four firefighters and at least 10 other people, said Matt Streck, a spokesman for California's Department of Forestry.
It burned more than 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) just north of the Mexican border town of Tecate, Mr Streck said.
Landmark lost
All 36,000 residents of Ramona, north-east of San Diego, were ordered to leave their homes as another blaze razed more than 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares), said San Diego sheriff's office spokesman Phillip Brust.
One San Diego firefighter, Mitch Mendler, said: "It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world."
The fire in Malibu is thought to have been caused by a power cable that ignited after being blown over in heavy wind.
Among the buildings destroyed in the town of 13,000 residents were the famous Castle Kashan home and a Presbyterian church.
Thousands of students at nearby Pepperdine University were also evacuated.
The coastal area is home to many celebrities, including Mel Gibson, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan, Dick Van Dyke, Ted Danson, Olivia Newton-John, James Cameron and David Geffen.
During a long heat wave in July, wildfires scorched thousands of acres across California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, South Dakota, Washington, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
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