Hundreds of California firefighters who are battling a raging wildfire near the Mojave Desert got a helping hand from nature on Wednesday.

Cool weather dampened the area around the Kern County blaze, which had forced many residents to evacuate their homes.  The wildfire has destroyed 25 homes in the area.

Initially, gusty winds made it hard for the firefighters to get the flames under control.

"It was absolute chaos," Kern County Fire Department Battalion Chief Dean Boller said. "It is very, very overgrown. There's so much dead and downed fuel out there - we knew we were in trouble."

The 1,400-acre wildfire, which started Tuesday, is 25 percent contained. Firefighters predicted they'd have the fire fully under control by Friday.

While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, local officials said they believe the blaze was man-made.