Wind-driven fires tore through California communities Tuesday for the second time in two months, leaving hundreds of homes feared lost and uprooting tens of thousands of people.

A wind-whipped wildfire in Southern California has scorched 48 square miles, destroyed 150 structures and left one firefighter injured, and officials say winds are increasing.

A massive wildfire destroyed at least 18 homes and threatened 1,500 more Sunday as flames churned through tinder-dry canyons north of Los Angeles where authorities found a burned body in a neighbourhood.