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Fires Take Lives, Homes
Fire Forces Evacuations, School Closures

POSTED: 1:09 p.m. PST October 26, 2003
UPDATED: 10:55 a.m. PST October 27, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- Wildfires continued to burn in San Diego County today after claiming at least 11 lives, destroying more than 460 homes and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency for San Diego County and planned to ask President Bush for disaster declarations for San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, making them eligible for federal and state aid for fire victims.

Davis plans to visit San Diego today at 12 p.m. He will meet with Mayor Dick Murphy and tour the Scripps Ranch area.

The Cedar fire, which broke out near Ramona late Saturday and spread to Scripps Ranch, El Cajon, Crest, and Alpine amid strong Santa Ana winds, high temperatures and low humidity, had charred more than 200,000 acres by this morning, according to 10News.

The blaze burned more than 150 structures around Scripps Ranch and 10 in Tierrasanta, the San Diego Fire Department reported. Elsewhere, the flames moved into the foothills above Santee and forced evacuations in the Shadow Mountain area on the east side of El Cajon.

"There were some structures destroyed up on the end of Camino Monte Sombra, in the Shadow Mountain area, off Madison Avenue," U.S. Forest Service Battalion Chief Andy Menshek said.

About 50 to 100 structures were destroyed in Crest, just east of El Cajon, 10News reported.

Authorities were checking reports of structures newly burned on Olde Highway 80 near Spring View Court in Flinn Springs and the Garden Road neighborhood of Poway.

There were also reports of mandatory evacuations in the Alpine Heights area and as far east as Descanso.

Wayne Whalen, who watched the flames in the hills above his 5-year-old Santee neighborhood Sunday, said he hadn't seen firefighters for hours.

"If the wind stays the way it's going, we'll probably escape the bullet," Whalen said. "If the wind changes, we're screwed."

In Valley Center, a blazed dubbed the Paradise fire destroyed 57 homes and 103 outbuildings, a CDF dispatcher said. The Flames had scorched approximately 15,000 acres by last night, and containment was not expected until Oct. 30.

The Otay fire was burning toward Proctor Valley and Dulzura, also having charred an estimated 15,000 acres, according to 10News. No homes were immediately threatened.

A fourth fire, which broke out last week at the Camp Pendleton Marine base during live-fire exercises, had scorched 4,800 acres by this morning and was 75 percent contained.

Most of the deaths occurred as people tried to escape the fast-moving Cedar and Paradise fires early Sunday.

Three died on the Barona Indian Reservation, four died on Muth Valley Road off Wildcat Canyon Road, one died in a vehicle near the Valley Center fire station, one died on Yellow Brick Road in Valley Center, and two died at local hospitals.

The fires has forced the closures of most school and colleges throughout San Diego County.