Posted on 10/21/2007 9:48:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Update 8:20 AM
Running Springs - Structure protection for the Running Springs, Twin Peaks, and Lake Arrowhead areas are the priority, according reports from the US Forest Service. The fire complex has reportedly consumed about 4,000 acres and is 5% contained. Nearly 100 homes burned in the Running Springs area, bringing the total homes lost between 200 and 250 between Green Valley Lake and Twin Peaks – a number that is expected to grow as crews regain access to the Green Valley Lake area. There are reports of additional homes being lost in the Deep Creek and Palo Alto areas of Running Springs. Some air resources have been deployed to fight the fire this morning.
The FOX news guy just reported there are 1,000 homes in San Diego county destroyed..
LOL!!! No Sir, they are not! They are....sit down now....HELPING ONE ANOTHER! Being NICE to one another.
Go. Feeger.
yes, 1900 total in Socal...for now
That’s basically it! The lady and her family have animals, and are spending time outside the stadium. The volunteers (teens...all ages) are coming out TO them, to give them water, pizza, etc.
She said everyone’s upbeat in spite of the tragedy.
The only bashing I heard on KOGO was again the Red Cross.
Calif. fires burn 1,200 structures
ALLISON HOFFMAN and GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - Thousands more residents were ordered to evacuate their homes Tuesday, bringing the number of people chased away by the wind-whipped flames that have engulfed Southern California to at least 300,000.
By day three, the dozen wildfires had burned 1,200 homes and businesses and set 245,957 acres — 384 square miles — ablaze, and the destruction may only be the start for the region. Tuesday’s forecast called for hotter temperatures and more explosive Santa Ana gusts.
The blazes bedeviled firefighters as walls of flame whipped from mountain passes to the edges of the state’s celebrated coastline, spreading so quickly that even hotels serving as temporary shelters for evacuees had to be evacuated.
Marilee Bishop of Running Springs and her 10 year-old-daughter Erica rubbed their red eyes Tuesday morning as they woke up in a Wal-Mart parking lot where they spent the night after being forced to leave their home.
“No one ever expects something like this to happen to them,” said Bishop, as thick smoke rose in the skies behind her.
As the fires spread, most out of control, smaller blazes were merging into larger, more fearsome ones. Evacuations were being announced in one community after another as firefighters found themselves overwhelmed by gale-force Santa Ana winds, some gusting to 70 mph.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders pleaded with residents to stay off cell phones so that emergency crews could do their work. At least 274,000 homes — about 300,000 people — were asked to clear out in San Diego County alone, he said. Officials cautioned that more evacuations could be necessary, as the fires carved a path Tuesday toward populated areas.
“Please stay at home today if you can,” he said. “Stay off the freeways. Allow our emergency vehicles and people needing to evacuate to move around freely.”
President Bush declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts. He also sent federal disaster officials to California. He did not plan to visit the area himself, fearing his visit would detract from firefighting efforts.
“All of us across this nation are concerned for the families who have lost their homes and the many families who have been evacuated from their homes,” Bush said Tuesday. “We send the help of the federal government.”
Fire crews and fleeing residents described desperate conditions that were sure to get worse. Temperatures across Southern California were about 10 degrees above average and were expected to approach 100 degrees Tuesday in Orange and San Diego counties.
Deputies arrested two men for looting in the community of Ramona, and there were a handful of other looting cases reported, said San Diego Sheriff’s Lt. Mike McClain.
The fires were exploding and shooting embers in all directions, preventing crews from forming traditional fire lines and severely limiting aerial bombardment, officials said.
“Lifesaving is our priority. Getting people out from in front of the fire — those have been our priorities,” said Capt. Don Camp, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Thousands of residents sought shelter at fairgrounds, schools and community centers. The largest gathering was at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, where up to 10,000 evacuees anxiously watched the stadium’s television sets, hoping for a glimpse of their neighborhood on the local news. Sanders pleaded for donations of blankets, cots, pillows and food for the people staying there, and officials said more people were expected to arrive Tuesday.
San Diego County was ablaze from its rural north to its border region with Mexico, where the wildfires that started Sunday claimed their only fatality to date: Thomas Varshock, 52, of Tecate, a town on the U.S. side of the border southeast of San Diego. His body was found Sunday afternoon, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Forty-two people were injured, 16 of them firefighters.
In San Diego County, public schools were closed, as were campuses at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University.
The scope of the infernos was immense and was reminiscent of the blazes that tore through Southern California four years ago this month, killing 22 and destroying 3,640 homes.
The fires have been made worse by fierce Santa Ana winds. The winds — which sweep through Southern California’s canyons in fall and winter — are stronger than normal, turning already parched scrubland into tinder. They generated walls of flame that bore down on housing developments in a wide swath.
East of Los Angeles, a two-front fire destroyed at least 160 homes in the Lake Arrowhead area, the same mountain resort community where hundreds of homes were lost four years earlier.
One of the blazes, near Green Valley Lake, was so intense that firefighters were forced to pull back. It jumped Highway 18 and was headed toward the community of Running Springs, said Steve Lowe, a fire information officer with the San Bernardino National Forest.
Touring an evacuee camp at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to do everything in his power to assist the firefighting effort and help those who have lost their homes.
“I will be relentless all the way through this,” Schwarzenegger said.
___
Associated Press writers Chelsea J. Carter, Jeremiah Marquez, Daisy Nguyen and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles, Martha Mendoza in Lake Arrowhead, Jacob Adelman in Santa Clarita, Elliot Spagat and Scott Lindlaw in San Diego, Pauline Arrillaga in Del Mar and Jennifer Loven in Washington contributed to this report.
Heh.
THAT doesn’t surprise me..
50 illegals turned themselves in to BP----realized there was this big fire, couldn't get back into Mexico,and turned themselves in to BP (KUSI news report).
Condolences to the Thomas Varshock family of Tecate.
A picture released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows fierce easterly desert winds blowing smoke from wildfires in Southern California. More than 300,000 people were evacuated across California on Tuesday as wildfires raged across the state, prompting President George W. Bush to declare an emergency.(AFP/ESA-HO)
Firefighters watch the progress of the Harris Ranch Fire as it burns towards homes in Spring Valley, California October 23, 2007. Wildfires stoked by fierce winds burned unchecked across Southern California for a third day on Tuesday with 300,000 people in San Diego alone evacuated as flames destroyed or threatened homes from humble forest cabins to luxury villas. REUTERS/Fred Greaves (UNITED STATES)
I heard the Orange County Sheriff say that virtually all the fires in Orange County were arson.
Prayers to his family. He is currently the only casualty of the SD Fires.
There is an enclave of "latino" businesses along Jamacha Rd with paint themes that look just like downtown Tijuana. I last saw that scene as I moved the last few boxes from my mom's old house in Chula Vista to her new one in the Cottonwood area (Oct 2005).
Since I am not from the area, and therefore know nothing about street names etc, I would appreciate any info you can give me on El Cajon. Mr G works with a business there and we are not able to contact our friend.
How sad,they are showing homes burning at Running Springs.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/
Thank you
‘Morning, fatima...stephen...
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