UPDATE 2-Cooler weather aids California firefighters

(Adds comment from resident, hunt for arsonists)

SILVERADO CANYON, Calif., Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cool weather and calm skies helped thousands of firefighters beat back Southern California wildfires on Saturday, although flare-ups in some places meant the battle was not yet over.

In many areas, residents ventured back through charred landscapes to see if their homes were still standing or were among the 2,300 buildings around San Diego and Los Angeles that were destroyed over the past week.

Lori and Mike Hutter, both 51, returned to a San Diego neighborhood where nearly a dozen homes had been destroyed to sift through ashes for family keepsakes.

"I want my house to be rebuilt as close, if not identical, to what it was because that's the only house my kids have ever known," Lori Hutter told Reuters by telephone.

"We don't know anything else, we wouldn't think to live anywhere else," Hutter said, adding that offers of food, housing and money had poured in from friends and co-workers.

Cool, cloudy weather offered relief to weary firefighters and put to rest -- at least temporarily -- fears that fresh winds could further stoke blazes that have already killed 12 people.

"It helped yesterday and it's helping again today. Looking ahead to tomorrow, they are supposed to get some scattered rain over the area. The weather's really helping out quite a bit," said Randy Eardley, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center.

Despite the optimism, firefighters were still battling nine blazes threatening hundreds of homes.