Firefighters, aided by damp weather, have made progress against the last of Southern California's big wildfires.

Fire crews hope to put out the remaining flames before the possible return of winds this week.

There was a chance of a weak-to-moderate Santa Ana wind pattern on Friday and Saturday, but the National Weather Service said wind speeds should be "half or less" than those of the dry blasts that fanned the flames last week.

Meanwhile, fire crews were already benefiting from the wet weather in some areas, said an official.

A fire covering a 58,000-acre ranch north-west of Los Angeles in Ventura County was fully contained and crews were pushing to extinguish six other big blazes.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Fred Daskoski said: "It's a little premature to be celebrating, that's for sure.

"We're looking for full control within a week, but if we get any of these winds returning, there is a possibility that a couple of spots could have a blowout, and then we'd be off to the races again."

The winds gusted last week up to 100mph, pushing flames across more than 500,000 acres in seven Southern California counties.

Seven deaths were directly attributed to the fires, including those of four suspected illegal immigrants, whose bodies were found near the US-Mexico border last Thursday.