Police have shot and killed one arson suspect and arrested another one in a mountain area near Los Angeles as authorities began investigation into some of the ongoing wildfires in Southern California, officials said Wednesday.

The confrontation started when police in San Bernardino, about 100 kilometers east of Los Angeles, tried to detain a man Tuesday evening in a fire-prone area, but he go into his car and fled.

However, police said they still did not know whether the man who was shot dead was an arsonist.

Another man was arrested hours later in the nearby Hesperia area. Police said the man had started a fire, which was later put out by local residents.

Meanwhile, authorities in Southern California searched a home Wednesday as part of an arson investigation into the fires that have been devastating the region for four days, where more than 1,600 homes had been destroyed.

Although most of the blazes were blamed for the dry, windy weather conditions, investigators said at least two of the dozen wildfires were the work of arsonists.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2007)