Thread: CALIFORNIA IS ON FIRE : AGAIN ......... Part 2

The toll so far: 263,000 acres and 1,750 homes destroyed or damaged

By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

3:02 p.m. October 23, 2007

People started returning today to the homes they were forced to evacuate in Scripps Ranch, south Poway and Del Mar Heights even as officials said fire conditions worsened countywide today.

Four major fires ripping across San Diego County have burned at least 263,000 acres and destroyed or damaged 1,750 homes and 100 businesses. More than 500,000 people have been told to evacuate.

The monster Witch Creek fire is expected to join with the Poomacha fire, which started overnight on the La Jolla Indian Reservation, by the end of the day.

New evacuation orders were issued outside Julian and on Palomar Mountain.

In South County, the Harris Fire has shifted direction and is headed toward Rancho San Diego and Jamul, leaving Bonita and Sunnyside basically unscathed, and officials may let those people return this afternoon. The two-day-old blaze has blackened more than 70,000 acres.

President Bush is expected to visit San Diego Thursday to view the fire damage, according to the governor's office.

The firestorms have killed one person and injured 21 firefighters and 22 civilians in San Diego County.

Twenty-five air tankers and 40 helicopters are dumping water and retardant on the 11 fires now devastating Southern California. Nine more tankers have been requested, officials said.

San Diego officials said they will post a list of damaged addresses later this afternoon on the city's Web site, www.sandiego.gov. City Councilman Brian Maienschein announced plans to create a local assistance center for the people who lost homes in heavily hit Rancho Bernardo.

Exclusive Rancho Santa Fe also suffered losses. The fire swept down through the neighborhood of estates overnight. About 35 structures had been damaged by mid morning.

Fire crews working the area have been on the job since Sunday night and are showing signs of exhaustion. One firefighter said the temperature never cooled down last night, and while the winds settled down after dark, they kicked back up after 2 a.m.

The California National Guard has deployed 200 of its 610 Operation Jumpstart border troops to help at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and Qualcomm Stadium.

County air quality is so bad that elderly people first evacuated to the Del Mar Fairgrounds were bussed to El Centro to escape the smoky air.

Evacuations increased this morning to as far north as the Highway 76 corridor near Fallbrook, due to the Rice Canyon fire, and as far south as San Ysidro near the Mexico border. Fire officials still had no predictions of when the blazes raging around the county might be under control.

San Diego County evacuees looking for a place to stay are having to head farther and farther north as hotel rooms and evacuation centers fill up in Orange County.

In San Clemente, the town just north of the San Diego County line, hotels had no vacancies and waiting lists for rooms. Jennifer Finn, assistant manager at the San Clemente Inn, tried to help displaced San Diegans find other accommodations. “The nearest I found was in Huntington Beach,â€

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 1&t=k&z=19>

Looks like I am going to work tomorrow as the freeway is open, and on Thursday I will be gone for 3 weeks or more.

Right now there are at least 2 fires South of me, two to the North, and one to the West. Those are just the ones I can see.

Due to the location of my house, it should be safe. Unfortunately, the rumor from my ship, is that 12 crewmates lost their houses. I will find out more tomorrow.

R/ Skip

http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

Skip, thanks again for all your updates.