A huge wildfire churned through high desert wilderness north of Los Angeles Friday, destroying a few buildings and forcing people from about 2,000 homes.

Most of the displaced residents were allowed to return as the threat eased.

One single-family home and three mobile homes were destroyed, another house had roof damage and various other outbuildings and garages were lost in the horse country region, authorities said.

A DC-10 jumbo jet tanker arrived on the scene after sunrise Friday to drop fire retardant on the 32-square-kilometre blaze. Containment was estimated at only five per cent.

The quick spreading fire exploded Thursday at about 3 p.m. local time and forced hundreds of evacuations. The fire broke out near a state highway that snakes through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting Los Angeles to the high desert. Angeles National Forest lands lie on either side.

About 2,000 homes in the community of Leona Valley and parts of Palmdale were under evacuation Friday, according to Los Angeles County Fire.

Three water-dropping helicopters and hundreds of firefighters worked throughout the night to try to halt the fire, with little success. Early evening winds pushed the flames north and east toward the suburbs of Los Angeles County's inland desert, authorities said.

There is zero containment, they said.

Gusty afternoon winds and a temperature of 37 C were expected to pose a challenge for fire crews.