LOS ANGELES -- As thousands of acres across California continue to be raked by wildfires, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday praised the more than 3,000 personnel fighting to contain the conflagrations.

Wind-Whipped Wildfires

At a news conference, he especially thanked those fighting a San Fernando Valley blaze near downtown Los Angeles that forced 1,800 people from their homes.

The Marek Fire is blamed for one death. It blew up Sunday and has burned about 4,800 acres, but it is now 70 percent contained.

"It looked bad Monday," but overnight "they turned the whole thing around," he said. Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in two Southern California counties.

Strong Santa Ana winds were blowing 50 mph overnight, with the possibility of gusts as strong as 80 mph in some places. But firefighters said the strong winds had just a minimal effect overnight.

Still, residents as far as 20 miles away were being told to get ready in case they have to join the thousands already forced to evacuate.

The winds are blowing erratically just 10 miles away, where a second fire in Porter Ranch is uncontained. That fire doubled in size overnight to nearly 9,900 acres.

A third wildfire started Monday on a Marine base near San Diego. The fire began on an explosives training range at Camp Pendleton, though it's not clear how it started. It had grown to more than 1,500 acres by nightfall and forced the evacuation of 1,400 homes.

"Typically, October is the worst month. We were down there the same time of the fires last year, so it is a pattern and a time they get extremely cautious down there also," Santa Cruz Fire Battalion Chief Mike Venezio told TV station KSBW.

"As fires burn across California, I want to commend all of the firefighters who are bravely battling these aggressive flames and the first responders who are helping their communities and fellow neighbors," Schwarzenegger said. "Winds are causing fire conditions to change by the hour, which is why it is so important that residents in the areas surrounding these wildfires heed warnings from public safety officials to evacuate."

More than a dozen homes have already burned.