Firefighters were still battling wildfires near Los Angeles yesterday, as calm weather continued to give them a hand in conquering the three devastating fires that had destroyed hundreds of houses and forced thousands people to evacuate.

The wildfires stared over the weekend have been largely contained as of midday yesterday after they burned a total of 842 homes to ground, but firefighters were keeping a watchful eye on wind and weather, fire officials said.

The cause of the fires remains unknown, although authorities blamed the stubbornness of the blazes on the high temperatures and strong winds in the past few days. No major casualties were reported in the fires.

In the Sylmar suburban area north of Los Angeles, some residents of a mobile home park that almost wiped off by the fire returned to the site yesterday and began sifting through the charred remains of their belongings.

More than 600 structures, including 480 modular homes at the mobile home park, have been destroyed since the outbreak of the Sylmar fire on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, officials began to consider new regulations to better protect mobile homes, whose residents are usually elders and economically vulnerable, from wildfires.

Officials yesterday ordered the Los Angeles County Fire Department to come up with recommendations for changes in the building codes for mobile homes and mobile home parks in high fire hazard areas that would reduce their vulnerability. The report is set to be presented within 60 days.