Posted on 10/26/2003 10:14:05 AM PST by South40
RAMONA, Calif. -- Fire officials said at 9 a.m. that the Cedar Fire, which had burned more than 10,000 acres, had jumped state Route 67 and was now threatening the area of Scripps Ranch. 
Brush fires burning in San Diego Sunday filled the county's skies with smoke, killing 5 and destroying scores of homes.
Hundreds of San Diego residents have been evacuated from the paths of the fires.
East of Ramona, a blaze being called the Cedar Fire has destroyed has scorched at least 10,000 acres, and at least seven homes in the San Diego Country Estates area were destroyed. The CHP reported that two people who were trying to evacuate were trapped by the flames and killed.
Fire officials announced around 8 a.m. that a branch of the Cedar fire was burning in Santee Lakes near the Bonita Parkway. At 8:30, there were no details to report about that blaze.
Thousands of other homes and structures are threatened by the Cedar Fire.
A mandatory evacuation was ordered around midnight for the San Diego Country Estates community in Ramona, and many residents are taking the orders very seriously. That fire has burned through Barona and Moreno Valley and has crossed Highway 67 at Johnson Lake Road. Sunday morning, the fire was raging around Eucalyptus Hills -- a heavily populated area -- and was making its way toward Lakeside.
Fire officials were urging people in the area to evacuate to the Ramona Performing Arts Center at the Ramona High School at 1401 Hanson Lane. The school's phone number is (760) 788-5000. Earlier, residents had been sent to the Olive Pierce Middle School at 1542 Hanson Lane in Ramona, but, with nearly 700 residents there, authorities said the facility was full.
NBC7/39 reported around 9 a.m. that the Cedar Fire had jumped state Route 67 and was now approaching the area of Scripps Ranch. Residents of Scripps Ranch were being ordered to evacuate and were told to go to Mira Mesa High School at 10510 Reagan Road.
A second fire, which was being referred to by officials as the Paradise Fire, began near Valley Center in the Boucher Heights area of the Rincon Reservation. The fire in Valley Center has charred at least 1,000 acres, and 50 to 100 homes have been destroyed. Cole Grade Road has been closed. A fire chief on the scene told NBC7/39 that he personally had seen at least three people who had been killed by the fire.
The Red Cross has opened an evacuation center at Valley Center Middle School 28102 N. Lake Wolhford. Large animal evacuations can be taken to Aerie Park at Aerie Road and Betsworth.
Two command posts have been set up by officials; one is located at San Vicente Road and Gunn Stage Road in Ramona and the second at the Lakeside Rodeo grounds.
A third fire was burning on Marron Valley Road near state Route 94 in the Dulzara area close to the U.S.-Mexico border. More than 400 acres had reportedly burned in that fire.
Early on Sunday morning, embers could be seen falling from all directions as residents made their way to safety. Ash from the fires was seen drifting to the ground as far away as downtown San Diego.
"There was a fire all over the hillside by our house about 1:10 this morning," said evacuated resident Jeffrey Shults. "They knocked on the door and told us to evacuate immediately and not to grab anything, just family. Period."
The San Diego sheriff's department said that its communications center is operating in emergency mode and will only be answering emergency calls only for the next several hours.
Toward the north, the fire burning at Camp Pendleton had reportedly burned nearly 5,000 acres and is 55 percent contained, reported fire officials.
Check back here for updates on this breaking news story.
Dear Lord, please help the firefighters and give everyone strength.
My daughter and her husband live in Thousand Oaks, about an hour's drive from Burbank and about fifteen minutes from Simi Valley.
I talked to my daughter about an hour ago and she said that the fire in Simi Valley had just jumped the freeway and is now on both sides of the road.
The problem as I see it is that they have had no rain in over one hundred days, and everything is so dry it's ready to explode.
The people in Southern California need our prayers, folks.
There's some mighty fine people out there, and God will take care of them if we ask.
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