A finger of fire came within 100 feet of homes Tuesday in a Simi Valley neighborhood before helicopters scrambled to squelch the flames with water drops.In Los Angeles County, flames from the Porter Ranch fire whirled dangerously close to homes, as gusty Santa Ana winds sent the biggest of Southern California's wildfires flaring in hilly brushlands on the city's northern edge and along subdivisions to the west.Firefighters with hoses guarded houses as helicopters unleashed loads of water on hot spots of the 13,285-acre blaze charring slopes above the San Fernando Valley communities of Porter Ranch and Granada Hills.
