LOS ANGELES – Thousands of Californians were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday as calmer winds helped firefighters beat back two wind-driven wildfires that had spurred widespread evacuations.
Roughly 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate Monday after the wildfires broke out in brushy hills above cities in Southern California’s Orange County amid fierce winds and extremely dry weather conditions.
On Wednesday, evacuation orders were lifted for all residents in the city of Irvine about 35 miles south of Los Angeles, which saw more than a quarter of its 280,000 people forced from…
