WASHINGTON, Oct 24: Mosques across the United States held special prayers on Wednesday for rain to help put out raging wildfires in California. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an umbrella organisation representing scores of Muslim groups in the United States and Canada, also appealed to people of other faiths to join the prayers.

A dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have already forced more than 500,000 people to leave their homes.

By Wednesday, firefighters in many areas had conceded defeat, saying that they can do little more than pray for rains.

Fire crews complain that unrelenting winds have failed all their efforts to control the fires.

Shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing one person, destroying more than 1,800 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has warned the flames are threatening 68,000 more homes.

In San Diego County, authorities placed evacuation calls to more than 346,000 homes.

If the fires continue, additional 560,000 people will have to leave their homes as well.