SAN DIEGO, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Southern California firefighters still had their hands full late Wednesday even as a brutal Santa Ana and its deadly Devil Winds faded from the scene.

Around a dozen fires continued to burn in the region, fed by dried brush that has not seen significant rain since last winter.

The fires that erupted early in the week consumed approximately 400,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,200 homes. Five deaths were blamed on the fires; one firefighter feared killed near San Diego was in fact recovering in a hospital burn unit.

Exact losses were still being tallied as damage-assessment teams inspected fire-ravaged neighborhoods. While some of the more than 500,000 people evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, many others idled away in evacuation centers.

Officials said the “repopulations” would proceed in a methodical fashion only after burned areas were thoroughly checked for hazards such as gas leaks, downed power lines and even infestations by homeless vermin.

“Our No. 1 priority will be to get people back to where they belong, but it is not just the condition of the fire that matters,” San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender said. "There are also utilities and health-and-safety issues."