Facing a fire that has burned 85,700 acres and is only 5 percent contained despite round-the-clock efforts of 2,600 personnel, some La Cañada residents ignored evacuations orders, choosing instead to protect their homes with garden hoses.

The City News Service reported Monday that five people were trapped in a fire-ravaged area north of Lakeview Terrace, where evacuation orders were issued at least two days ago. Rescue crews were unable to immediately reach the area because of the intense flames.

Over the weekend, rescuers airlifted two Big Tujunga-area residents to a burn center after they chose to ride out the flames in a hot tub.

"We need people to comply with all orders," Mark Savage, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said over the weekend.

People who refuse to evacuate often underestimate the power of a fire, putting themselves and emergency personnel at risk, he added.

La Cañada resident Gaby Pryor took off for a nearby American Red Cross shelter when firefighters issued a mandatory evacuation order for her area Saturday morning.

But her husband Larry, a USC professor, stayed at the couple's home with his dog Lady to keep an eye on the encroaching flames, saying "we'll come back to find no home" if he evacuated.

"I've got my hose right here. I've got my ladder, and I'm ready to do battle," Larry Pryor said Saturday, with the sound of helicopters circling overhead audible through the telephone.

Despite having received an order to evacuate his home Friday night, real estate broker David Anderson stayed put, going without sleep in case he needed to protect his property from the fire.

"I didn't want to leave my house," he said. "There were no firemen around. They didn't want to come up my driveway. I was mad about that."

But when smoky conditions made it uncomfortable for him to breathe Saturday morning, he finally decided to evacuate to the shelter at La Cañada High School.

Pryor and Anderson -- and their homes -- came out of the experience unscathed. When reached by phone Monday, both men said evacuation orders in their area had been lifted.