Photos: Crown fire

A helicopter drops water near homes after afternoon winds whipped up flames on Lake Elizabeth Road in Palmdale.
See full story  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Crown fire burns in Palmdale on Friday. Firefighters’ top priority is protecting electrical transmission wires that run through the area.
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John Forman, 11, of Palmdale runs with a trash can filled with water to extinguish spot fires in the hills behind the Anaverde neighborhood of Palmdale.
See full story  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Patty Lennox, left, and Donna Hornaday cover their faces as they watch fire helicopters drop water near their Amberwood Drive homes.
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A Palmdale resident holding a container of water surveys the scorched hills near the Anaverde neighborhood.
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David Gee extinguishes spot fires near his home. The Crown fire grew to 13,000 acres, fanned by 50 mph winds.
See full story  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Palmdale residents work together with shovels to throw dirt on spot fires in the hills behind the Anaverde neighborhood. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the area on Friday.
See full story  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Palmdale residents take a break from fighting spot fires to watch helicopters and airplanes make water drops.
See full story  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

An airplane aids in the battle as the Crown fire burns in the hills west of the Anaverde neighborhood of Palmdale.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Smoke drifts over homes in Palmdale as the Crown fire burns.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Flames consume vegetation in the hills west of the Anaverde neighborhood of Palmdale.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Fire threatens homes in Palmdale as the Crown fire burns in the hills.
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Orange County firefighters get ready to defend houses on Pergola Terrace in the Anaverde neighborhood of Palmdale if flames from the Crown fire bear down on the street.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Darin Conant hoses down hot spots at the Lazy T Ranch on Friday morning. A wildfire continued to rage Friday in northern Los Angeles County’s west Palmdale and Leona Valley areas. Firefighters launched an aggressive aerial assault on the blaze.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Rubble was left behind as the fire scorched parts of L.A. County’s high desert.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Jesse Dalton looks at the burned-out car of a neighbor on the Lazy T Ranch.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Phyllis Tremblay, owner of the Lazy T Ranch on Elizabeth Lake Road, describes the flames. Sheriff’s deputies had issued an evacuation call to some 2,000 households, and from 500 to 750 people left the area, though most were back home early Friday, said Los Angeles Sheriff’s Capt. Joe Hartshorne.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The blaze continued to rage Friday. Firefighters said in the early afternoon that the wildfire was 5% contained.
See full story  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The shell of a car near Ritter Ranch along Lake Elizabeth Road.
See full story  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Smoke rises above the Angeles National Forest on Friday morning behind a home destroyed near Ritter Ranch along Lake Elizabeth Road.
See full story  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Thick smoke blankets the Antelope Valley early Friday morning as the air assault on the fire begins in the hills west of Palmdale.
See full story  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A home on Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley, in northern Los Angeles County, was destroyed by the Crown fire.
See full story  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County firefighters keep watch at the Lazy T Ranch on Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley.
See full story  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A fiery, otherwordly scene unfolds as the moon hangs in the sky above a brush fire.
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The setting sun appears on fire through the smoke of the Crown blaze as viewed from Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley. The entire town of Leona Valley has been evacuated.
See full story  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A camper trailer burns in the Crown fire on Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley. The fire has burned nearly 6,000 acres.
See full story  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A member of the media watches flames on Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley. About 500 firefighters are battling the blaze.
See full story  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Fire engines pause as flames from a fast-moving wildfire approach Elizabeth Lake Road in Leona Valley near Palmdale. Mandatory evacuations were issued for the community of Leona Valley on Thursday evening, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Matt Levesque said.
See full story  (Dan Steinberg / Associated Press)

A woman watches as flames approach her home during the fast-moving Crown wildfire near Palmdale.
See full story  (Dan Steinberg / Associated Press)