Sierra Madre fire

A team of inmate firefighters labors to contain the blaze above Sierra Madre on Monday by cutting lines along its edge in a canyon. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Crews work to contain the blaze in a canyon near Sierra Madre. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Sherry Wheelock and her twin 13-year-olds, Chris, center, and Michael, watch as planes drop water along a canyon near Sierra Madre on Monday. Flames were approaching the area where they live, and they wore masks because Chris has asthma. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Longtime Sierra Madre residents Della Gonzalez and Steve Burns watch as planes drop water in a nearby canyon Monday, trying to stop the fire. The couple live near where the blaze was spreading. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Area residents watch airplanes dropping water along a canyon near Sierra Madre. In one neighborhood that had been evacuated, about 500 residents were allowed to go home Monday. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

An inmate fire crew tries to contain the blaze by cutting lines along its edge in a canyon near Sierra Madre. About 580 firefighters from federal, state and local agencies battled the blaze Monday. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Crews battle the blaze in the mountains above Sierre Madre. Full containment wasn’t expected for five days. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Forest Service drops fire retardant on the hills above Sierra Madre, where a fire ignited Saturday. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles TImes)

A home sits unscathed by the brush fire that, as of Sunday, had burned about 400 acres and forced about 1,000 residents to evacuate. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles TImes)

A crew of prisoners rests after fighting flames through the night. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles TImes)

Residents display their gratitude to emergency personnel. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles TImes)

Firefighters and inmates try to contain a fire in Sierra Madre on Sunday by cutting lines along the fire’s edge in the Sierra Madre Canyon. Residents were asked to evacuate their homes, but several stayed near by to ensure their homes didn’t burn down. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County Fire Department fixed-wing aircraft makes a fire retardant drop over Santa Anita Canyon as a wildfire burns in the Angeles National Forest in Sierra Madre on Sunday. The American Red Cross has opened shelters at the Hart Park House, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., and the Congregational Church, 170 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., in Sierra Madre. The fire began Saturday afternoon about 3 p.m. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters Jeannette Dabney, left, and Capt. Steve Tuttle stand by as Sierra Madre Canyon burns. The firefighters were on hand with their 3,000-gallon water tender for fighters trying to contain the fire. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County Department of Corrections firefighter cuts brush with a chainsaw while facing high flames and high temperatures (97 degrees) while fighting the Santa Anita Canyon brush fire. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Fire flares up as a hand crew firefighter makes his way up steep terrain. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A Sierra Madre firefighter takes a break by cooling off from a water tender amid high temperatures while fighting the Santa Anita Canyon brush fire Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter makes a drop over Little Santa Anita Canyon, near Sierra Madre Dam. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. County firefighters keep an eye on flames burning up the hillside in Little Santa Anita Canyon, near Sierra Madre Dam, on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Ben Grace, 8, left, Alex DeLaMora, 4, and Christopher DeLaMora, 9, right, watch from the bleachers of Heasley Field as a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter ascends from drawing water to fight the fire. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County Fire Department. helicopter makes a drop over Little Santa Anita Canyon, near Sierra Madre Dam, on Sunday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Residents Rich Hansberger and Beverly Schwartz keep a watchful eye on helicopter water drops as firefighters try to contain the fire near their Sierra Madre Canyon homes. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters and inmates try to contain a fire in Sierra Madre by cutting lines along the fire’s edge in the Sierra Madre Canyon. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter makes a drop over Little Santa Anita Canyon. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters help injured L.A. County firefighter Kevin Waites down the canyon after he was injured cutting lines along the fire’s edge in the Sierra Madre Canyon. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

An L.A. County fire helicopter makes a drop over Little Santa Anita Canyon. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Residents keep a watchful eye on helicopter water drops as firefighters try to contain the fire on Sierra Madre Canyon homes. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)