Historic buildings in the Old West movie set area of Pioneertown had been spared, but several other structures were destroyed, fire officials said Wednesday.
Desert winds and blistering heat on Wednesday challenged firefighters battling a 36,000-acre wildfire that destroyed buildings and forced hundreds of people to leave but spared historic structures in a town developed decades ago as a movie set for westerns.
Firefighters evacuated dozens of homes Wednesday as a wildfire raced across 26,000 acres of desert and destroyed 30 homes and buildings in an area where Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers, and others filmed Hollywood Westerns.