normally a Serene California ski area the mountains east of Los Angeles have been engulfed by particularly menacing summer wildfires dozens of Mountain Homes burned as Southern California was hit by a brutal heat wave with temperatures well into the 40s steep Mountain terrain adding to the challenge for firefighters the speed of the fire spread shocked many residents it's devastating coming back to the neighborhood because I heard we lost 40 homes this one just came so fast I don't think I don't think anybody was prepared to move um as fast as it had come um which you know unfortunately led a lot of people to leave their belongings behind um and get out with what they could three separate wildfires in the region have burned more than a 100,000 acres it's the height of wildfire season in California and this year the state has seen nearly three times as much area burned as in all of 2023 authori have arrested one man accused of setting what is known as the line fire which is still active based upon the investigation uh in terms of the charges uh the suspect's vehicle uh was in or around all of those areas uh at times in which the fires were started in a positive turn for firefighters continuing to battle the blazes the weather did cool down Thursday offering some relief but tens of thousands of people can't yet return to see if their homes are still still standing