Wildfire destroys 53 homes in LA County

LOS ANGELES — Fire officials say a deadly wildfire that has blackened a wide swath of tinder-dry forest around Los Angeles has destroyed a total of 53 homes and threatens thousands more.

The fire has scorched 164 square miles of brush since it broke out last Wednesday. Two firefighters were killed Sunday battling the blaze. They died when their truck drove off the side of a road with flames all around them.

The fire also is burning dangerously close to Mount Wilson, home to at least 20 television transmission towers, radio and cell phone antennas, and the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory. If the flames hit the mountain, cell phone service and TV and radio transmissions would be disrupted, but the extent is unclear.