Firefighters battled flames and treacherous Santa Ana winds today as they tried to get the upper hand on a wildfire that destroyed four homes, a handful of cars, and chased more than 1,000 people from their houses. The Grand Prix fire in the Rancho Cucamonga area has blackened nearly 13,000 acres since breaking out Tuesday in Los Padres National Forest. Authorities believe it was started by an arsonist. It is just one of several fires burning across Southern California this weekend.

Another fire, near Piru in Ventura County, has charred about 700 acres. And at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, firefighters are battling a 4,600 acre blaze.