LOS ANGELES, September 1, 2009 (AFP) - Cool weather allowed firefighters to make progress against a deadly wildfire raging in Los Angeles on Tuesday but officials warned they were a long way from declaring victory.

After days of sweltering temperatures and single-digit humidity, Mother Nature came to the aid of firefighters tackling the blaze which has claimed two lives, gutted 63 homes and ripped through 127,000 acres (51,400 hectares).

A rise in humidity and a drop in temperatures saw firefighters increase containment lines from five percent to 22 percent, and for the first time evacuation orders in several hillside neighborhoods were lifted.

Incident commander Mike Dietrich told reporters at a 5 pm (0000 GMT) briefing that "if this was a boxing match, the scores would be even."

"The weather has helped us certainly," Dietrich said. "I don't believe we have totally turned a corner at this point in time.

"The fire has laid down but there are still a lot of hotspots out there and if the temperatures go up and humidity comes back down it could be a very angry fire again. We're going to stay with this fire until it's out.

"But I feel a lot better today than I have done in the past three or four days, just based on the percentage of containment that we have today."

An estimated 10,000 people have been evacuated since the fire erupted last Wednesday and flames continued to besiege a critical telecommunications facility as well as a historic hilltop observatory.

More than 3,600 firefighters are battling the fire in the Angeles National Forest. The inferno threatened communications antennas for numerous television and radio stations, cell phone providers and law enforcement agencies on Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Firefighters were hacking at brush in order to create firewalls and set lines of retardant aimed at protecting the Mount Wilson Observatory. Television footage later Tuesday showed clouds of smoke shrouding the observatory dome.

Authorities have pushed back an estimate for when the fire would be under control, forecasting containment by September 15.

In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs offered condolences from President Barack Obama to the families of the two firefighters who died when

their truck plunged down a mountainside as they battled the flames on Sunday.

"In the last many hours we have seen two firefighters lose their lives. The president and first lady obviously send their condolences to the two families," Gibbs said.

The Los Angeles fire was one of several destructive blazes burning across California.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters Tuesday that a total of eight major fires were burning. As well as the two firefighters who died, 14 had been injured, Schwarzenegger said.

Schwarzenegger had earlier urged residents who received an evacuation order to flee immediately. "I think the key thing is when you hear from law enforcement, anything about evacuation, follow their orders," he said.

There were conflicting reports about the fate of five people who ignored evacuation orders in Los Angeles and were criticized by authorities after requesting rescue from firefighters.

However, one of the five reportedly trapped denied requesting help and said the group was not in danger. Their fate was unclear Tuesday.

Meanwhile Los Angeles City fire officials reported one case of looting at a property vacated by evacuees.

Meanwhile, the fire has forced to a mass evacuation of animals from equestrian centers and wildlife sanctuaries. City officials said they were running out of shelters for horses which have been moved from the fire.

Hugh Briefman, the Los Angeles city animal control officer, has arranged the evacuation of more than 600 horses since the fire broke out. "The fire's everywhere," he said. "We're running out of places to take them."

California is frequently hit by wildfires due to its dry climate, winds and recent housing booms that have seen home construction spread rapidly into rural and densely forested areas.

In 2007, the state suffered some of the worst devastation from wildfires in its history that left eight people dead, gutted 2,000 homes, displaced 640,000 people and caused a billion dollars of damage.