LAPD cruiser announces that it is alright for residents to return to their homes in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles, as a wildfire sends plumes of smoke into the air in the background, Monday, Oct. 27, 2003, in Simi Valley, Calif.
Los Angeles firefighters, Albert Vargas, left, Mullen Martin, watch a fire at Rocky Peak Park, Monday, Oct. 27, 2003, in Sami Valley, Calif. The 80,000-acre blaze in suburban Simi Valley, 35 miles Northwest of Los Angeles, jumped the highway and came within yards of several homes before firefighters began to get the upper hand. Schools in the city were closed by the fire.
Smoke from the wildfires burning across Southern California surround the San Fernando Valley as a large plume of smoke rises from the Old Fire, in San Bernardino, Calif., 50 miles east of Simi Valley Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 . The thick smoke from the wildfires burning across Southern California, pushed by the stiff winds stoking the flames over the greater Los Angeles metropolitan region, has sparked widespread health warnings.