Campers evacuated in California fire

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from campsites in southern California as fire fighters try to contain brush fires, officials said.

More than 300 people were forced to flee a blaze that broke out in the Angeles National Forest on Friday.

A separate fire that swept over a major highway, forcing people to abandon their cars, calmed down overnight.

Looming thunderstorms could bring rain to quell the flames but also winds and lightening.

Two people were injured from the effects of smoke inhalation from the fire that broke out on Interstate-15, the main road linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

It burned more than 40 vehicles and at least three homes, causing panic among drivers on the busy road.

“I told my kids, ‘Get your stuff’. I was telling people ‘You’d better come out.’ All of a sudden, it just came on us,” Armando Aguilar told KTLA television.

The blaze is about 5% contained, officials said. The fire in the Angeles National Forest is about 10% contained.

Wildfires are common in California, but have been exacerbated by the four-year drought gripping the state.