Sawtooth Sizzles

Inmate firefighters from the Fenner Canyon Conservation Camp await orders to move out as the Sawtooth Complex fire moves through Morongo Valley, Calif., late Thursday, July 13, 2006. Evacuation orders were lifted for several communities, including the old Western film locale of Pioneertown, but new evacuations were ordered for dozens of homes in Morongo Valley, and residents of other towns remained unable to return home.

Brenda Kerber helps a friend evacuate her home during the Sawtooth Complex fire in Morongo Valley, Calif., Thursday, July 13, 2006. The 40,000-acre fire chewed through desert wilderness after destroying 100 homes and buildings and was on course to possibly merge with a blaze in the San Bernardino National Forest.

Steve Avila, a member of the Mill Creek Hotshots, watches a backfire consume fuel in the path of the Sawtooth Complex Fire, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, near the town of Morongo Valley, Calif. The wildfire burned tens of thousands of acres of Southern California desert, forcing more than 1,000 people to flee and destroying at least 30 homes and buildings, including several in the historic Western movie town of Pioneertown.

An unidentified California Department of Forestry Los Padres Hotshot Monterey crew member grabs his coworker's helmet as he moves away from the flames of the Sawtooth Fire in Yucca Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Desert winds and blistering heat challenged firefighters battling a 36,000-acre wildfire that destroyed buildings and forced 1,000 people to leave.

A controlled burn is seen behind a house in Morongo Valley, Calif., Wednesday July 12, 2006, as firefighters battled the Sawtooth Complex Fire. The wildfire burned tens of thousands of acres of Southern California desert, forcing more than 1,000 people to flee and destroying at least 30 homes and outbuildings, including several in the historic Western movie community of Pioneertown.

Jeremy Snyder of the Riverside County Fire Department shields his face from the heat of a burning building Wednesday, July 12, 2006, in the Pioneertown area near Yucca Valley, Calif. Desert winds and blistering heat challenged firefighters battling a 36,000-acre wildfire that destroyed 30 buildings and forced up to 1,000 people from small communities.

The remnants of a wooden wagon are seen Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after the Sawtooth Complex Fire roared through the area in Pioneertown, Calif. Desert winds and blistering heat challenged firefighters battling the wildfire that destroyed buildings and forced 1,000 people to leave, but spared historic structures in Pioneertown, developed decades ago as a movie set for Westerns.

Shirley Zambrano walks past what is left of her home, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after it was burned to the ground during the Sawtooth Complex Fire which burned through Pioneertown, Calif., Tuesday. The wildfire singed thousands of acres of Southern California desert, forcing more than 1,000 people to flee and destroying at least 30 homes and buildings, including several in the historic Western movie town of Pioneertown.

Shirley Zambrano gets a hug from her neighbor Jack Dugan, Wednesday July 12, 2006, after Zambrano's home was burned to the ground during the Sawtooth Complex Fire which burned through Pioneertown, Calif., Tuesday. The wildfire forced more 1,000 people to flee and destroyed at least 30 homes and outbuildings, including several in the historic Western movie community of Pioneertown.

U.S. Forest Service Hotshot Crew members prepare to shoot flares on a burning hillside to help it back burn near Yucca Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 12, 2006. The wildfire ripped across tens of thousands of acres of Southern California desert, forcing more than a thousand people to flee and destroying at least 30 homes and outbuildings.

A helicopter flies through the smoke-filled sky with a load of water to drop on the Sawtooth Complex Fire near Yucca Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 12, 2006. The wildfire ripped across tens of thousands of acres of Southern California desert, forcing more than a thousand people to flee and destroying at least 30 homes and outbuildings, including several in the historic Western movie community of Pioneertown.

The sun sets over Big Morongo Canyon through heavy smoke from the Sawtooth Complex fire in Morongo Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 12, 2006.

Martina Delgado rests at a Red Cross evacuation center at Yucca Valley High School as the Sawtooth Complex fire burns out of control near Yucca Valley, Calif., Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Firefighters evacuated dozens of homes as the wildfire raced across 36,000 acres of desert and destroyed 30 homes and buildings in an area where Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and others filmed Hollywood Westerns.

Flames from a brush fire flare out of control Tuesday, July 11, 2006, near Yucca Valley, California. The wildfire burned several structures in a desert locale where dozens of Hollywood Westerns were filmed, threatened other towns and prompted 1,000 people to flee.