I know, it's hard to tear away from this, especially since there's a media blackout on cable "news."
Especially hard because of the lack of active media. Of course, by now I should have local TV turning back on fire coverage, but they don't have much info that I haven't heard at the moment. ;)
Might have to force myself to bed soon even if I don't hear about the evac for Hesperia; I've gotta be semi-coherent for work later today.
Calif. Wildfires Threaten Mountain Towns
6 minutes ago
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer
RIMFOREST, Calif. - The hot Santa Ana winds that roused California's most destructive wildfires in history were giving way to cooler, more humid conditions Wednesday, but that did little to tame the blazing tide: Instead, forecasts called for Pacific air to push fires in new, dangerous directions.
Southern California's mountains still glowed red as out-of-control fires devoured dying forests, chasing the region's newest refugees into smoky traffic jams as they fled their alpine communities by the tens of thousands.
The towering peaks of the San Bernardino range east of Los Angeles and the mountains of eastern San Diego County became major fronts Tuesday in the long arc of wildfires that have roared over more than 567,000 acres — about 890 square miles, nearly the area of Rhode Island. At least 16 people have died since Oct. 21, and more than 1,600 homes have been destroyed.
In the San Bernardino Mountains, firefighters set backfires along a narrow highway, hoping to burn out fuel needed by the wildfire moving up from below. But the fire still jumped the road in some areas.
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In San Diego County, the state's biggest fire was on the outskirts of Julian, a Cuyamaca Mountains town of 3,500 famous for its apple crop. The 210,000-acre Cedar Fire had a 45-mile front and was just miles from merging with a 37,000-acre fire near Escondido.
Fire crews exhausted by three days of battle were pulled back.
"There's really no way to stop this fire from getting up to Julian," said Rich Hawkins, a U.S. Forest Service fire chief. Reinforcements were sent out, but Hawkins said he needed twice as many.
"They're so fatigued that despite the fact the fire perimeter might become much larger, we're not willing to let the firefighters continue any further," he said.
Ten miles south of Julian, about 90 percent of homes were destroyed in Cuyamaca, a lakeside town of about 160 residents, said Chief Bill Clayton of the California Department of Forestry.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031029/ap_on_re_us/cal_wildfires&cid=519&ncid=716