AVALON, California — Firefighters on both US coasts battled huge blazes yesterday, including one that burned homes and forced residents and visitors on Santa Catalina Island to flee the resort off the Southern California coast as ash rained down "like snow."Firefighters in California turned back flames threatening more homes on the edge of the island's main city, and Friday's forecast coupled with a massing force of fire trucks and water-dropping aircraft offered hope that Santa Catalina would be spared.

The 4,000-acre fire was only 10 percent contained just after dawn as helicopters returned to the air over this narrow, mountainous island about 30 miles off the coast.

Flames that menaced the city of Avalon and forced hundreds to evacuate Thursday night were no longer visible from the city. A puff of smoke rose from a hillside overlooking the crescent harbour and a layer of ash were reminders of a harrowing night.

"The risk has been reduced significantly," Fire Chief Steven Hoefs said. "Most of the structures have been protected."

One home and a few small structures in the canyons outside the city burned, Hoefs said. About 1,200 homes were under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders.

The blaze broke out Thursday afternoon on the island. Flames threatened the city limits of Avalon, where hundreds of people lined up at the harbour Thursday night to board ferries back to the mainland. Many covered their faces with towels and bandanas as ashes fell.

A few homes burned but firefighters were protecting other properties late into the night, Avalon Fire Chief Steven Hoefs said. About 1,200 homes were under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders.

"We're hanging in for now," Hoefs said.

In Georgia, a second wildfire in Okefenokee Swamp has burned more than 100,000 acres, rivalling in just five days the vast record-setting fire that has scorched southeast Georgia for more than three weeks, firefighters said Thursday.

The rapidly growing fire, fed by fast-burning swamp grasses, was ignited Saturday by a lightning strike in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Georgia and Florida have been battling wildfires for weeks, with nearly 300 square miles charred as a drought has left the land tinder-dry.

Smoke-filled air created a burning smell and a dusting of ashes that coated cars and buildings through much of Florida and southeastern Georgia. The haze over Florida forced the closure of several highways.

Health officials warned the elderly, small children and people with breathing problems to stay indoors, although some areas were not as smoky Thursday. No one has died in the fires and just one firefighter had minor injuries.

Authorities has been hoping the year's first named storm would bring rain. But the remnants of Subtropical Storm Andrea were not promising much rainfall relief — only up to an inch was expected.

In California, the blaze that began east of the Santa Catalina Island's airport grew to 4,000 acres, feeding on dry brush as winds steadily blew throughout the day and into the night. Winds later calmed and the air grew moist, although the threat remained.

An orange inferno loomed behind the quaint crescent harbour, landmark 1929 Catalina Casino and homes, restaurants and tiny hotels clinging to slopes above the waterfront.

A commercial building and several warehouse structures burned, and 175 utility customers lost electricity when power poles caught on fire.

Overnight, Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters were ferrying in firefighters 32 at a time, and 500 firefighters were expected on the island by afternoon. Hand crews were being positioned at the city's edge to protect homes.

"We're on defence mode for now," Hoefs said.

At least 160 firefighters, aided by four water-dropping helicopters and three retardant-dropping air tankers, battled flames through most of Thursday. One county firefighter, overcome by smoke, was hospitalised in stable condition.

In Avalon, authorities used a bullhorn to urge people to evacuate and head to the beach. The Catalina Express ferry service added several night departures of 400-passenger vessels from Avalon. Hundreds of residents and visitors boarded the ferries to reach the mainland.

At the mainland port of Long Beach, island resident Kathy Troeger arrived on a ferry with her three children and a friend's daughter. Her husband, a captain in county fire's Baywatch division, stayed behind to help fight the fire.

"It was like a nightmare when we left," she said. "You couldn't breathe and ash was falling like snow."

Despite being well offshore, Catalina has been left parched by the lack of rainfall that has made the rest of Southern California particularly susceptible to wildfires like the one in Los Angeles' Griffith Park this week.

Firefighters were still working yesterday to surround what remained of that fire, which briefly chased people from homes and threatened the park's landmark observatory and zoo.

A long, narrow island, Catalina covers 76 square miles and is home to a various wildlife.

In northern Minnesota, high wind fanned a fire around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, prompting more evacuations.

Bill Paxton, a spokesman for the firefighting effort, said the fire was "challenging" the containment lines. "They're holding right now," he said. "We're having some difficulty holding them, but they're holding now."

The fire had burned more than 45 square miles and destroyed about 45 structures since it started Saturday. The shifting winds Thursday put another 100 buildings at risk, fire officials said.