UPDATE 5:30 p.m. - Acting Governor Tom Torlakson declares a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Monterey Counties due to the effects of the Sand and Soberanes fires.
Acting Governor @TomTorlakson issues emergency proclamations in LA/Monterey counties for #SandFire & #SoberanesFire: https://t.co/UrHRkrioJc
— CA Dept of Education (@CADeptEd) July 27, 2016
UPDATE 1:10 p.m.: (AP) -- Authorities say a man who was found dead in a car at the scene of a Southern California wildfire refused to evacuate as the flames approached.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office identifies him Tuesday as 67-year-old Robert Bresnick.
He was visiting a friend in Santa Clarita, where a wildfire has burned 18 homes.
Assistant Chief Ed Winter says firefighters tried to get Bresnick and a woman living at the home in Santa Clarita to evacuate Saturday as the flames approached but they refused.
Winter says the woman eventually left but the man went back into the home.
Winter says his burned body was found about 20 minutes later in a car in the driveway after flames had swept through the area.
UPDATE 10:10 a.m.: (AP) -- The signature state parks of California's grand Big Sur coast are closed as one of the state's two major wildfires expands in the region.
Closures as of Tuesday in the major tourism destination include Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Andrew Molera State Park and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, among others.
Spokesman Dennis Weber says facilities aren't endangered but officials decided to get the public out of the areas for safety and to keep roads clear and avoid exposure to bad air quality.
Weber says a total of about 7,500 people a day visit the affected parks.
Closures also include the Point Sur lighthouse park, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Garrapata State Park.
#SoberanesFire Update: Garrapata SP & Point Lobos SNR are also closed until further notice. Full list is attached. pic.twitter.com/VE2xQXtRlV
— CA State Parks (@CAStateParks) July 26, 2016
ORIGINAL (AP) -- The huge wildfire north of Los Angeles has grown to more than 37,000 acres, but containment has also increased.
The fire command says the blaze is 25 percent surrounded Tuesday morning.
Most of the evacuation orders affecting 10,000 homes were lifted Monday night.
Nearly 3,000 firefighters are working the blaze, along with 356 fire engines and 26 helicopters.
The fire erupted Friday afternoon in Santa Clarita, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, another blaze near the scenic Big Sur region on the California coast has grown to more than 19,000 acres.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the blaze is 10 percent contained Tuesday morning.
The fire has destroyed 20 homes and two outbuildings, and some 300 residents have been forced out of their homes.
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