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We’re signing off for the night. Check latimes.com for more updates throughout the night. The metro staff of the Los Angeles Times will be back in this space tomorrow morning. Thank you for reading
Sacramento:
Officials said today that state air support was ready Monday afternoon to join the fight against the Southern California firestorms, but the planes were grounded by dangerous winds. Although there was some flying early Monday, possibly just for reconnaissance, it wasn't until Tuesday that most planes got in the air, because of the time needed to get them ready and bring them to Southern California, and because of serious wind conditions Monday that made flying dangerous.
Maj. Gen. William H. Wade, the adjutant general, California National Guard, said the Guard received "mission request" Sunday afternoon for aircraft. Because of rules requiring crews to get sleep and also the time it took to prepare planes and assemble crews, the Guard had three ready to go at Los Alamitos by late morning Monday, and after fire managers arrived, could have launched them at 12:35 p.m. if not for the wind. The fourth came in and all four were ready to go at 3:43 p.m. Monday.
"All four aircraft were ready to deploy, but unfortunately were still on hold because of high winds," Wade said. ...
Continue reading "State air support was grounded by dangerous winds, officials said" »
Lake Arrowhead:
Cooler temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters make progress on the Grass Valley fire near Lake Arrowhead and the Slide fire near Running Springs and Arrowbear. By Thursday evening the Slide fire was 15% contained at 11,675 acres, though about 10,000 homes continued to be threatened.
Throughout the day, water-dropping helicopters and tankers focused on knocking down the Slide fire's southwestern flank to keep the fire's edge from moving north into the community of Arrowbear or back into Running Springs.
No additional homes were lost to either the Slide or Grass Valley fires, according to Mike Dietrich, fire chief of the San Bernardino National Forest. The Grass Valley fire did not grow in size Thursday.
But firefighters on the Slide fire were still focused on preventing the fire from consuming homes and creating anchor points to begin a containment line around the fire.
"There's still a lot of problems," said Randy Clauson, division chief on the San Bernardino National Forest, who headed the initial attack.
"We know the winds are going to switch and start coming from the other direction."
"It's still Southern California; it changes rapidly," Clauson said.
As they made progress on the Grass Valley fire, Clauson said commanders hoped to continue moving engines and crews to fight the Slide fire. Efforts to contain that blaze were complicated by a shortage of hand crews, bulldozers and air resources because of the competition from the fires in San Diego and Orange County. In the late afternoon, air-operations officials were also forced to ground several air tankers because of the dense smoke.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell visited devastated areas of Lake Arrowhead on Thursday afternoon after a trip to San Diego with the president. Standing on a hilltop surrounded by rubble, she praised the fuel-thinning efforts that fire officials say helped save thousands of homes.
"I'm very proud of the work our folks have done," Kimbell said.
As gas and power-line crews worked the mountain areas, San Bernardino sheriff's officials still had no estimate of when all residents might be able to return. People who live in Cedar Pines Park and Valley of Enchantment were allowed to return if they showed proof of residency.
-- Maeve Reston
San Bernardino:
They weren't handing out energy drinks, offering massages or directing evacuees to self-help classes at the Orange Show Fairgrounds on Thursday.
This wasn't San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium -- the Ritz of evacuation centers. This was its more spartan, less genteel cousin, a place packed with tough mountain people not always comfortable in the flatlands.
Not that they were complaining -- much.
"It's too freakin' noisy, too many kids. But what can you do, they have a lot of energy," said 54-year-old Joe Cote, a refugee from Green Valley Lake, one of the mountain communities that has seen dozens of homes burned to the ground. "The food isn't the greatest, but it's wholesome."
On Wednesday night, more than 1,800 people slept in the two enormous aircraft-hangar-like buildings. Row upon row of cots filled the vast rooms. Lines snaked toward the hot food stalls. Tables were set up by medical personnel checking for everything from asthma to head lice.
A chain-link fence became a makeshift day care center for the hundreds of children here. Once inside they played with balls, balloons and watched repeated showings of "Happy Feet."
Continue reading "More spartan digs for San Bernardino evacuees" »
San Bernardino:
San Bernardino County officials are not immediately releasing a list of homes destroyed in the fire. County Assessor Bill Postmus announced the decision, saying fire and law enforcement agencies had asked him to refrain because roads into the destruction zone remain closed.
Santiago Canyon:
Last Sunday, Ben Viloria, 57, and his wife, Susan, were in Laguna Beach celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary, but he could not fully concentrate on the occasion. He noticed that it was extremely windy and thought that authorities should shut down a stretch of nearby Santiago Canyon Road.
"That's what I was concerned about, some arsonist," Viloria said. "It didn't have to happen. Whoever did this put all these lives and all these properties in jeopardy."
All around him, homes are charred, and some tree stumps are still smoking. Fifty hand crews and firefighters marched into his neighborhood just minutes after neighbors fled Tuesday morning. A volunteer firefighter friend gave him updates all Tuesday and ultimately came to his home with tears in his eyes, saying, "You can't stay. You can't stay." The friend looked at Viloria's son and said, "Don't let him stay."
He and his 29-year-old son defied the evacuation order as long as possible. The last thing he did before leaving was turn on his Rainbird sprinkler, which firefighters say could have helped protect the home. When he returned from his brief evacuation, he saw that though the fire had burned just feet away, his house had survived.
"With a natural fire, at least you can say it was an accident, but this was not an accident," he said.
--Hector Becerra
Escondido:
The two persons found dead in the rubble of their Escondido home have been identified as Victoria Katherine Fox, 55, and her husband, John Christopher Bain, 58. Identification was made through dental records, officials said.
-- Tony Perry
U.S.-Mexico border: The four charred bodies of suspected illegal immigrants who are believed to have died in the Harris fire were discovered at the bottom of a canyon north of the border town of Tecate, Border Patrol officials said. The location was near an area where four illegal immigrants were rescued Sunday afternoon.
The Harris fire swept through the rugged area east of San Diego that is crisscrossed by hundreds of migrant trails.
Agents on routine patrols Thursday spotted one body 100 yards deep inside a canyon. The other bodies were located nearby. "It's very tragic," said Gloria Chavez, an assistant chief patrol agent based in San Diego.
Even in the best of weather conditions, the steep canyons and mountains make for treacherous treks. Since 2001, at least 30 immigrants have died trying to cross in the area.
About one dozen suspected illegal immigrants burned in the Harris fire are being treated at the UC San Diego Regional Burn Unit. Several remain in critical condition, said Alberto Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego.
Some of the immigrants, he said, come from the Mexican states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Jalisco.
-- Richard Marosi
San Diego:
Everyone in San Diego was allowed to return home today.
"Everything in the city has been reoccupied as of this afternoon," said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for San Diego Fire and Rescue. "Everything."
People are "back in their homes," Luque said. "The ones that have homes to go back into."
-- Tami Abdollah
Trabuco Canyon:
Cook's Corner, a biker haunt for 81 years, has become a de facto headquarters for firefighters fighting the Santiago flames since Monday.
On Tuesday, when the Santa Ana winds barreled into the Canyon and the flames came to about half a mile from Cook's Corner, manager Rhonda Palmerri, 37, recalls being told that they would have to evacuate immediately. They had begun pulling pictures and memorabilia together when the winds suddenly shifted and firefighters said they would no longer have to flee. "The firefighters promised that this place is not going anywhere," said Palmerri, who was wearing a pink bandanna and other biker regalia. "I love these guys."
In response to the arson named as the cause, Palmerri says, "It's sickening to me. Now we need to make sure we're safe and make sure we find the idiot who did this."
In their downtime, the firefighers are enjoying an outdoor barbecue and foods slathered in chili. Los Angeles County firefighter Anthony Jefferson, who arrived from the Malibu fires Tuesday evening, said as he finished off a barbecued hamburger and hot dog drowning in chili, "It's fantastic. It's the best camp food I've ever had."
--Hector Becerra
Some of the suspected causes of the wildfires that burned across Southern California this week (not all fires are listed): Witch fire (Poway area, San Diego County): 197,990 acres burned; 805 houses destroyed; two dead, 10 firefighters injured Possible cause: Downed power lines, a witness said. Harris fire (southern San Diego County): 81,000 acres burned; 200 homes destroyed; 1 dead, 36 injured (25 civilians and 7 firefighters). Cause: Unknown Ranch Fire (Castaic): 55,756 acres burned; 1 house destroyed Cause: Unknown Buckweed Fire (Agua Dulce/Santa Clarita): 38,356 acres burned; 15 homes destroyed; 4 injured (3 civilians, 1 firefighter) Suspected cause: Downed power lines Poomacha Fire (Pauma Valley, San Diego County): 35,000 acres burned; 50 homes destroyed; 12 firefighters injured Cause: A structure fire on La Jolla Indian Reservation that set off a brush fire Santiago Fire (Orange County): 25,000 acres burned; 14 homes destroyed; 4 firefighters injured Cause: Arson Slide Fire (Running Springs): 11,366 acres burned; 200 homes destroyed Cause: Unknown Canyon Fire (Malibu): 4,565 acres burned; 6 homes destroyed; 3 firefighters injured Suspected cause: Downed power lines Magic Fire (Stevenson Ranch): 2,824 acres burned Suspected cause: Sparks from welding by construction workers Grass Valley Fire (Northwest Lake Arrowhead) 1,100 acres burned; 113 homes destroyed Cause: Unknown Little Mountain Fire (San Bernardino): 650 acres burned Cause: Suspicious in nature Rosa Fire (Temecula, Riverside County): 411 acres burned Official cause: Arson Martin Ranch Fire (San Bernardino): 140 acres burned Cause: Suspicious
-- Ron Lin
Entrance to downtown Trabuco Canyon:
On his sprawling ranch home next door to the Trabuco General store, Leonard Schwendeman, 89, sits in his living room and spews against whoever started the fire that threatened his home.
"Of course [we're] very aggravated," said Schwendeman, sitting on his couch in a blue shirt and red suspenders. "I think they should put [the arsonists] to work on a fire line for six months. Just carrying those water hoses is a hell of a lot of work." ....
Continue reading "Arsonist lucky he wasn't caught in the act, resident says" »
Los Angeles County:
Sports teams at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino have continued practicing and playing games, relying on air-quality advisories and communication with athletic directors at other schools, said assistant principal Jeff Thornton. The junior varsity and freshman football teams were in action Thursday, and the varsity football team was scheduled to play Friday against Bishop Amat at home. The water polo team has also been in action.
Coaches have been checking air-quality levels on the website of the SouthCoast Air Quality Management District on a regular basis. At one point earlier in the week, when air particulates at the West San Fernando campus were high, the intensity and duration of football practice was lowered. Physical education classes and other outdoor activities have been curtailed, however, and are being conducted indoors.
"Obviously, if students are coughing or having a hard time, we'll pull them out and let them rest," said Thornton. "We also have two trainers on staff, and they're available at all of our home games."
Continue reading "Some student athletes are back to training" »
Camp Pendleton:
Fire disrupted training at Camp Pendleton to an unprecedented degree, says the base commander, Col. James B. Seaton III.
Training for Marines preparing to deploy to Iraq was halted as Marines were forced to move away from the raging Horno fire. The School of Infantry remains shut down. Families in three housing areas had to be relocated, one at 2 a.m.
Marines had to escort civilians from Fallbrook as they traveled through the base to Interstate 5 to escape the Rice fire. The 72-hour gut check for recruits called the Crucible remains halted. Communications remain down at some portions of the base.
Seaton, who commanded an infantry battalion during the assault on Baghdad in 2003, is looking at the bright side.
"This had great training value," in testing Marines' ability to make quick decisions and handle "nonstandard" missions, he said. Part of the test changed directions quickly and seemingly in a quixotic fashion as the fires shifted.
"Marines know that the enemy has a vote and can change tactics," he said. "In this case, the enemy was wind and fire."
"We're an 'any clime, any place,' force. This was a different clime, but the place was our home."
-- Tony Perry
Spring Valley, southern San Diego County:
Howard Windsor, incident commander with the California Department of Fire, told evacuees at Steele Canyon High School today that "I really believe we're getting the upper hand" on the Harris fire.
Windsor said fire crews had stopped the wildfire, which has burned more than 80,000 acres, from spreading further west, and had beaten it back eastward overnight as it tried to advance through Jamul.
California Department of Fire Captain Scott McLean said the fire was trying to move northeast. But while it is only 10 percent contained, there were no new evacuations and the fire was not threatening any new residential areas.
The strategy, McLean said, is to "try to get it wrapped and get a line behind it," and choke it off.
McLean said the humidity had risen from 9% to 17% since Wednesday, and he hoped it would continue to rise, helping the fight.
-- Ari Bloomekatz
Qualcomm Stadium:
The evacuation shelter at Qualcomm Stadium will close Friday at noon, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders announced today. No decision has been announced whether the stadium will be used for Sunday's scheduled football game between the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Texans.
-- Tony Perry
Orange County Fire Authority's list of addresses of homes confirmed destroyed in the
Santiago fire near Irvine and Lake Forest*:
Williams Canyon Road: 28564, 28562, 28522
Modjeska Canyon Road: 28331, 28040, 16956, 28456
Modjeska Grade Road: 28012, 28452, 28041
Country Home Road: 18691
Baum Canyon: 17286
Canyon Heights Drive: 17382
*13 confirmed addresses of 14 homes reported destroyed
-- Tony Barboza
San Diego:
If disasters can be judged by nonstop television coverage, the fires that struck San Diego County may have lost emergency status at 2 p.m. Thursday.
That's when San Diego's four major stations, all of which had devoted nearly all their programming hours to fire coverage since Sunday night, returned to regularly scheduled programming.
-- Tony Perry
The Rancho Bernardo service center is drawing evacuees from all over San Diego County, and no one has been turned away, officials said. Other centers, offering help with insurance, federal aid and counseling, are being or have been opened. They are:
Orange Show Fairgrounds
Dome Building
689 South E. St.
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Ramona Community School
1710 Montecito Road
Ramona, CA 92065
Fallbrook Community Center
341 Heald Lane
Fallbrook, CA 92028
Rancho San Diego - Cuyamaca College
900 Rancho San Diego Parkway
El Cajon, CA 92109
Activities Center
George A. Caravalho Santa Clarita Sports Complex
20880 Centre Pointe Parkway
Santa Clarita, CA 91350
The centers located at Rancho San Diego-Cuyamaca College in El Cajon and the George A. Caravalho Santa Clarita Sports Complex in Santa Clarita will open tomorrow (Friday) morning. Additional local assistance centers will be opened as needed and will be posted on the Governor's Office of Emergency Services homepage at www.oes.ca.gov.
Southern San Diego County:
U.S. Border Patrol agents Thursday afternoon found the charred bodies of four suspected illegal immigrants who are believed to have died in the Harris fire, border patrol officials said.
The bodies were discovered at the bottom of a canyon just north of Tecate, where four illegal immigrants were rescued Sunday afternoon.
-- Richard Marosi
The San Diego County coroner's office reports that four more people have been found dead.
Running Springs:
Relief came today for many of the firefighters who had raced from house to house in the Slide fire in Running Springs. After nonstop action, the young five-man crew of U.S. Forest Service Engine 12
faced a new predicament -- idle time.
They fanned out on foot with shovels along a stretch of Highway 18 between Arrowbear and Snow Valley to serve as lookouts -- primed to keep an eye on the fire smoldering among the oaks and pines on the northern side of the road and to pounce on any flying embers that leapt to the other side. But things were pretty quiet.
They were a rare hometown crew among the hundreds of engines arriving from all over the state and the West. Based at the Deer Lick Station in Running Springs, four of the five firefighters had homes near the heart of the fires and were far from home -- working the Ranch fire -- when the Slide fire began Monday.
Continue reading "A little relief in Running Springs" »
Orange County:
Santiago Canyon College and the South Orange County Community College District's three campuses canceled classes until Monday. High school football games and other athletic events have also been called off through Monday, and Yorba Linda's Fiesta Days has been canceled.
Irvine Unified School District schools are closed Friday. They were opened on Thursday.
-- Jennifer Delson
Redlands:
At least two vegetation fires set within minutes of each other in Redlands earlier this week were the work of an arsonist, San Bernardino County authorities said today.
In the first incident, firefighters were called to a reported fire around 7:30 a.m. yesterday in vegetation near Helen Drive and Kristin Court. They quickly extinguished the blaze before it could spread to a brush-filled canyon area.
Minutes later, another fire was reported blocks away on Miradero Drive. An off-duty Redlands police officer quickly extinguished that fire too.
Redlands fire investigators determined that both blazes were intentionally set.
Authorities said witnesses at both fires reported seeing a silver or light gray pickup truck with a large spare tire in the area. The driver is described as a white male in his 20s, with short, sandy blond hair and dark clothing.
Redlands officials ask anyone with information to contact Redlands Fire Department arson investigators at (909) 798-7600.
--Andrew Blankstein
Oceanside:
The homeless dogs played their morning game of fetch on the tennis courts, evacuated horses and ponies stretched their legs on the dusty softball diamond, and cats napped in the greenhouse. For the fourth consecutive day, El Camino High in Oceanside served as a shelter for animals displaced by the San Diego wildfires.
The North County Humane Society in Oceanside ran out of room early Monday, so El Camino High's farm
has been getting the overflow. By today, some 150 animals and 125 people
were calling the high school home.
On a typical day, a few steer, pigs and horses would be occupying the farmland adjacent to the gym. But this week, they have quite a bit of company -- more than 100 dogs and cats, 12 horses, 20 goats, a handful of chickens, an iguana, a snake, a blind pig, a pregnant pot-bellied pig and a duck named Aflac.
The Humane Society is operating the temporary animal shelter, but El Camino students such as Brittany Rose are pitching in and working overtime. One night, Rose couldn't stand to leave the displaced critters, so she slept for stretches on the floor near the restless dogs and in a car next to the noisy chicken
coop.
"I love them," said Rose, 17, who plans to be a horse veterinarian in college. "There's nothing they can do about their situation. They need people to take care of them."
Erica Leal, 19, of Valley Center, said she was grateful her two horses had a place to stay but she could tell they were missing their three-acre ranch. "Right now, they'd be running and having fun all over my three acres," she said. "This is a little weird for them, but they're trying to get used to it."
Most of the dogs were behaving themselves, except for the five greyhound puppies who just arrived from Escondido. "Those guys are escape artists," Rose said. "You can't keep them in their cages."
Lindsay Hood, a Humane Society spokeswoman, said it is unclear how long the Oceanside school district will allow the animals to bunk at the high school.
"It's pretty much day by day," she said.
--Dave McKibben
Rancho Bernardo:
At the request of San Diego Fire-Rescue, Scripps Health today set up a mobile trailer and two tents as a medical response unit at the Rancho Bernardo service center.
"We're ready to provide care for both firefighters, if they need it, and citizens coming to the recreation center," said Dr. A. Brent Eastman, chief medical officer for Scripps Health. "Many have illnesses that are neglected or mental health issues when they come back and see their homes destroyed."
They were asked to help to alleviate the strain on San Diego's hospital emergency rooms, Eastman said.
He said the unit, which opened up for its first full day today, has already dealt with about a dozen patients, but he said the lines were expected to increase as people began to be allowed back to their homes.
So far, he said, they have dealt primarily with three kinds of patients: those suffering from chronic illnesses who have missed doctor's appointments or do not have the supplies they need because of the fires; people suffering from respiratory problems due to the air quality; and those who need mental health counseling to deal with the emotional trauma of their losses.
The unit was utilized in Houston to aid Katrina victims, many of whom had lost their healthcare supplies, he said, adding that one example might be asthmatics without nebulizers.
"When I've walked through the recovery center and see all these people, it's exactly what we encountered in Houston," Eastman said.
One man seen by Scripps Health last night had been in an evacuation center since Sunday without either insulin or his glucometer to measure his insulin level. Eastman said the man had been very distressed but had received care. Today, as President Bush arrived at the center, a woman who had just learned her house had burned to the ground approached the tents for mental health counseling.
Eastman said doctors at the unit can treat people and write prescriptions right away, but follow-up appointments also are discussed.
"We know from the Cedar fires we provided a lot of mental health in 2003 early on ... but we're still seeing those patients now," Eastman said. "We're looking at it as a first encounter of what may be a long relationship" with Scripps or people's regular doctors.
The unit has a volunteer staff of about four doctors and six nurses, Eastman said. He said Rancho Bernardo has a sizable population of elderly and retired people.
--Tami Abdollah
Cleveland National Forest:
Fueled by dry shrubs and trees, the Santiago fire raged into the rugged Cleveland National Forest this afternoon, burning up the slopes of the Santa Ana Mountains and threatening to cross over to Riverside County.
As onshore winds pushed a wall of black smoke over the mountains and into Riverside County, firefighters were considering building a firebreak by using bulldozers to link the various mountain roads in the area.
"We still haven't been able to take the offensive, but we're hoping to do so today," said Louis Sandoval, with the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
Firefighters in eastern Orange County today had so far kept the 25,000-acre fire from reaching homes in Trabuco and Live Oak canyons, the most endangered communities. In nearly deserted Trabuco Canyon, a dozen fire engines took positions, ready for battle.
Buck Wickham, operations chief with the Orange County Fire Authority, called Trabuco and Live Oak canyons "a box of matches ready to go."
Fire officials said Modjeska Canyon appeared safe for now, but that Silverado Canyon and its 700 homes were "far from being out of the woods."
Crews said they were being helped by several factors, including lower temperatures, higher humidity, onshore winds, more personnel, 10 helicopters and four water-dropping airplanes.
About 1,100 firefighters are now fighting the Santiago blaze, nearly double the staffing of earlier this week. More than 200 of them, along with bulldozer teams, are trying to shore up a firebreak near the ridgeline that separates Orange and Riverside counties. They are working to clear a stretch of eight to 10 miles on a fire road built in the 1930s. If the flames jump the break, firefighters said, the blaze could threaten the community of Lake Elsinore.
"We've never sent a fire to Riverside County yet," said Rick Reeder, battalion chief with the Fire Authority.
Meanwhile, Orange County authorities appealed to the public to help them catch the arsonist who set the fire Sunday evening near Santiago Canyon and Silverado Canyon roads. Officials were offering a $150,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.
"The FBI will bring to bear all of its national resources ... to make sure that we track, apprehend and put this person or persons behind bars where they belong," said FBI Special Agent Herb Brown.
The FBI has 20 agents working on the case. The agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives will employ cause and origin experts and behavioral scientists.
"We've had 250 tips," Sheriff Michael S. Carona said. "None have led to anybody we believe to be the suspect in this case."
The fire started on the Irvine side of Santiago Canyon Road at 6 p.m. Sunday. Though officials previously said there were three points of origin, today they said there were only two.
Within 15 minutes of the report of the fire, the blaze had spread three miles, officials said.
"The person or people who did this are exceptionally lucky or they have some knowledge of when they can do the most damage when you set a fire," Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather said.
The Santiago fire grew rapidly yesterday, with officials reporting last night that they had lost ground and that containment had fallen to 30% from 50%, firefighters' victories in hemming it in undone. The number of homes destroyed stood at 14. Modjeska Canyon suffered the brunt of the destruction.
Phil Buller, a veteran firefighter with Station 16 in the canyon, said this morning that the hillsides had "all burned, but no more homes had been lost."
A CHP officer stopped motorists on Santiago Canyon Road this morning and said the FBI was not allowing anyone through.
Though many residents of Live Oak Canyon had been evacuated, there were some holdouts, including Bob Heerdt, 73. He has lived for nearly three decades on a sprawling estate at the corner of Hunky Dory and Rinky Dink, two modest canyon roads. His land is dotted with rusted farm equipment, appliances, a 50-foot sailboat he had hoped to restore when he bought it in 1976, and tall oaks that form a canopy over the property.
"I won't see this taken away from me," he said Wednesday. "I'm like a good captain. I'm going down with the ship."
All schools were closed today in the Capistrano and Saddleback districts, as were Silverado Elementary near the fires and several private schools. All Irvine schools will be closed tomorrow. The South Orange County Community College District canceled classes at its three campuses until Monday. High school football games and other athletic events have also been called off through Monday, and Yorba Linda's Fiesta Days has been canceled.
--Seema Mehta
Oceanside:
The Qualcomm Stadium evacuation site has been receiving rave reviews all week, but the facilities at El Camino High School in Oceanside don't seem to be too shabby either.
One elderly woman from Fallbrook apparently was having such a fine time at the Oceanside shelter that she sent her son back to Redondo Beach after he arrived to pick her up.
"She said she was being treated so well, she didn't want to leave," said Margery Pierce, a shelter organizer.
Rhonda Hall of South Carolina, who was evacuated from her brother's house in Fallbrook, said she thought the accommodations were as luxurious as those on "a cruise."
"The people running this place are the most amazing I've ever seen," she said. "I've lived through Hurricane Hugo and this is a much better situation. It seems like all we do here is eat and get entertained."
Evacuation center officials said they are hoping to shut down the Oceanside site by tomorrow night. Last night, the facility held about 125 refugees from Fallbrook, Valley Center, Escondido and Solana Beach.
"Most of these people are from Fallbrook and we'd like to get them closer to their home," said Joe Urban, a preparedness coordinator for the city of Oceanside. "The burden for sheltering these displaced people is going to shift back to schools and churches in the fire areas."
--Dave McKibben
Lake Elsinore:
One of the last remaining models of the largest flying boat ever mass produced was expected to take off from Lake Elsinore today to fight California's raging wildfires.
Brought from Canada to help in the firefighting effort, the Martin Mars JRM III was expected to take off from Seaport Boat Launch at Lake Elsinore before noon today, headed first for the Harris fire in San Diego County, said Wayne Coulson, whose company, Coulson Flying Tankers, owns two Martin Mars JRM III planes.
The aircraft carries 7,200 gallons of water, enough to cover an area of four acres. The aircraft was loaded with a mix of water and Thermo-Gel, a material that helps expedite firefighting.
A smaller aircraft owned by the California Fire Department was expected to fly ahead to tell the pilot of the Martin Mars JRM III where to drop a combination of water and Thermo-Gel.
"It's like a four-acre blanket laid ... when the fire burns up to the Thermo-Gel, it puts it out," said Wayne Coulson.
Coulson Flying Tankers owns the last two remaining Martin Mars JRM III, which were used by the U.S. Navy in the late 1930s for ocean patrol, Coulson said.
Coulson Flying Tankers renovated the planes. The company, based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, contracts with fire departments to combat fires.
Coulson bought the two aircraft six months ago and began discussions with fire authorities in California in the weeks before the fires.
Coulson would not say how much he paid for the planes, other than to say they were a "significant investment." Nor would he say how much he is receiving from California the service.
Perry Esquer, aircraft manager from the San Diego Fire Department, said the exact fee had not been determined yet.
"We heard the governor say that we need to do what it takes to put these fires out. With that being said, there has not been a lot said about numbers. The idea is to get water on this fire first," Esquer said.
--Jennifer Delson
Orange:
Orange County authorities appealed to the public today for tips to help them catch the arsonist who set the Santiago wildfire.
"We've had 250 tips. None have led to anybody we believe to be the suspect in this case," said Sheriff Michael S. Carona.
Finding the arsonist without help from the public will be "exceptionally difficult," said Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather.
"We have a number of leads to follow in this complex incident and we desperately want to arrest the person or people who did this," he said.
The fire has burned 23,000 acres and destroyed 11 homes. The governor's office, the FBI and the ATF have each pledged $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the fire. The total reward will be $150,000.
Officials said they are bringing to the investigation as many resources as possible.
"The FBI will bring to bear all of its national resources ... to make sure that we track, apprehend and put this person or persons behind bars where they belong," said FBI Special Agent Herb Brown.
The FBI has 20 agents working on the case. The ATF and the FBI will employ cause and origin experts and behavioral scientists.
Carona said the unified command structure -- in this case, the fire authority, FBI, ATF and Sheriff's Department -- is similar to the one that helped catch the man convicted in the case of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion case, whose 2002 kidnap-murder in Orange County captivated the nation.
The fire started on the Irvine side of Santiago Canyon Road at 6 p.m. on Sunday. While officials previously said there were three points of origin for the fire, today they said there were only two. Once set, the fire grew very fast, Prather said.
Within 15 minutes of the first report, the fire had spread three miles, he said.
Said Prather: "The person or people who did this are exceptionally lucky or they have some knowledge of when they can do the most damage when you set a fire."
"There was evidence found at the scene that led investigators to believe this was an arson," Prather said.
Usually, the evidence is not as obvious, he said. He would not elaborate.
Prather said he wondered if the response to the Orange County fire took resources away from fighting other fires.
"This arsonist prohibited us from responding to our neighbors for help," Prather said.
-- Hector Becerra and Jennifer Delson
Rancho Bernardo:
Adam Richardson, 40, lost his home in the 2003 Cedar fire. On Thursday, he was at the Rancho Bernardo service center counseling residents who shared the same fate.
"We were in a room that looked exactly like this gymnasium in Scripps four years ago, teary-eyed like everybody else here, with not really a clue on how to start," Richardson said.
Richardson said the experience had been cathartic, although he continued to have flashbacks of his own trauma.
"It was really creepy driving through here, because it looked like our community did four years ago," Richardson said.
Around the center, filled with government and private agency representatives offering aid, hordes of people milled under banners telling them where to go.
"This place is intimidating," Richardson said. "You walk through and there's 40 different tables. It's pretty overwhelming to someone who got out with the clothes on their back and not much else.
"We're trying to give people a road map from A to Z on how to get back home: what's important today, what can wait a year, what struggles and fights you're going to have with your insurance company."
At Richardson's "survivors" table, people could pair off with "mentors" who had gone through the Cedar fire, had the same insurance company and could counsel them through the rebuilding process. Copies of "The Disaster Recovery Handbook & Household Inventory Guide," compiled from the experiences of other disaster survivors, were also available.
We "let people know they're not alone," Richardson said.
-- Tami Abdollah
Poway:
Richard Ellis, 46, once had a home in Poway. This morning, he discovered he no longer did.
He had thought, after not seeing its status listed anywhere, that there was a 50-50 chance his home was still standing.
"It's like a roller coaster: You go up and down, you see some good news and you see some bad news, and you don't want to get too high up or too low down," Ellis said.
After four days of not knowing for sure, he couldn't take it anymore. This morning he went back to the barricades around his neighborhood. About 8:30 a.m., authorities let people in.
"You drive up, and a lot of houses are intact, there are a few that are not, but you think, 'Oh, it's going to be OK.' Then you come around the corner," Ellis said. "I was more upset thinking about it; when you see it, you're in a different mode."
"It could be worse," Ellis said. "All the cliches and everything, but it's true. We have insurance, we're both employed. It's just stuff -- we'll rebuild. We'll get a new house. We'll rebuild. You've got no choice."
-- Tami Abdollah
Rancho Bernardo:
Kimber Fowler, 20, was one of the first who spoke to President Bush at the Rancho Bernardo service center, tears streaming from her eyes. Fowler, a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, found out Monday that her home in the Trails neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo had burned down and jumped on a plane.
"I told [the president] I was from Baylor [near the president's home in Crawford] and he said he was praying for my family," Fowler said. "He said, so you're a fighting Baylor Bear," Fowler said, referring to the school's mascot.
"I was just going to shake his hand, and he gave me a hug, and I just fell apart because it made it real," Fowler said.
"He wasn't just hugging her, he had his arms around her," said Brenda Fowler, Kimber's mother, while pointing at a picture she captured on her camera. "It was like a father comforting a child."
Kimber Fowler said the service center had helped her family's spirits.
"I've been collecting Christmas bears since I was born in 1987, and a woman gave us two Christmas bears so we could start over," Fowler said, pointing to the male and female white bears dressed in blue.
"This brought me to tears," she said. "We're devastated and we cry and things, but it's the hospitality that makes us cry the most. My family can feel the prayers of 1,000 people around the U.S."
-- Tami Abdollah
Escondido:
Two bodies have been found in a house that burned down in Escondido. Authorities earlier mistakenly reported that the grisly discovery was in Poway. The two people, who have not been identified, are presumed to have died in the fire.
-- Scott Glover
Southern California:
Special load permits will be issued to trucks carrying disaster relief supplies to areas affected by fires in Southern California, the governor announced.
Escondido:
Gov. Schwarzenegger and President Bush greeted firefighters at the Escondido fire command center. The governor and president shook hands as the pair walked to the microphones.
"It means a lot to me personally and it means a lot to the people of California," Schwarzenegger said of the presidential visit.
The governor described the tour he and the president took this morning as heart-breaking.
"Thank you to the president for everything he has done," the governor said. "We both understand this will be a long process."
Bush returned the compliment. Of Schwarzenegger, Bush said there is "no hill he is not willing to charge; no problem he is not willing to solve."
-- Michael Muskal
Lake Forest:
The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist who set the Santiago fire near Lake Forest and Irvine is up to $150,000.
-- Seema Mehta
San Diego:
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department reported today that authorities had arrested two people on suspicion of arson in Vista. They also arrested someone for allegedly impersonating a firefighter in Fallbrook. Two people were placed into custody on looting charges near Tecate on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two arrested in the arson case -- one juvenile, one adult -- allegedly set a fire that burned a small patch of grass before it was extinguished.
The looting arrests involved two people seen leaving a burned-out home with a large bag. The arrests were made by sheriff's deputies and Border Patrol agents.
In Fallbrook, William Brock, 44, on probation from Los Angeles on a drug conviction, was accused of impersonating a firefighter, officials said. They said Brock was wearing a blue shirt with the word "firefighter," and was dressed in fire gear and had attached a hose to a fire hydrant. He claimed to be from the Morongo Valley Fire Department, officials said.
-- Tony Perry
Rancho Bernardo:
Twenty-five minutes after he arrived at the Rancho Bernardo service center, the president was still talking to volunteers. A sweat stain was showing down the back of his shirt.
At the center, local residents could begin the process of receiving assistance from FEMA, the Red Cross and the Small Business Administration, among others.
The U.S. Postal Service, phone providers and cable companies also had tables set up.
-- James Gerstenzang
Rancho Bernardo:
The president spent about an hour at the Rancho Bernardo service center. He is now at a briefing by officials in a large white tent at Kit Carson Park in Escondido.
Bush will then come out and give a formal statement before going to lunch with first-responders.
-- James Gerstenzang
On his tour of Rancho Bernardo, President Bush said he would leave it to historians to compare Hurricane Katrina flooding in New Orleans to the fire disaster in California. "There's all kinds of time for historians to compare," he said, his arm draped over the shoulder of Rancho Bernardo resident Kendra Jeffcoat, who lost her home.
-- Presidential pool report
Ramona:
Four people were hospitalized with unknown injuries after the helicopter they were flying in crashed this morning in Ramona, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The privately-owned helicopter, leased by San Diego Gas and Electric, was checking transmission lines related to the fires when it went down about 10:40 a.m. at Sunrise Vista, said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The Bell 206L hit the ground and rolled on to its left side. Four people on board, including the pilot, were able to get out, Gregor said. They were transported to Palomar Hospital with undisclosed injuries.
-- Andrew Blankstein
San Diego County:
The San Diego County medical examiner's office reported today that two more evacuees had died, bringing the total of evacuee deaths to seven.
Robert Sibbison, 86, was under hospice care at his home for end-stage lung cancer. He was evacuated by ambulance Wednesday morning and was on his way to the Veterans Hospital in San Diego. While en route, he experienced shortness of breath and was taken to Grossmont Hospital. Staff members attempted to resuscitate him, but he died a short time later.
Priscilla Frias, 20, suffered from multiple health problems and had difficulty breathing after the fires started. Her family took her to stay with family members in Tijuana. But when her breathing continued to worsen, her family brought her back to San Diego. During the early morning hours Wednesday, paramedics took her to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. She was seen in the emergency department, but attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Her cause of death is pending.
-- Charles Ornstein
Rancho Bernardo:
President Bush walked through a Rancho Bernardo neighborhood past charred Halloween decorations on the ground and through more rubble to take in the view from a hilltop. He was accompanied by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others. Sen. Dianne Feinstein took the president’s arm as they walked from the property at the top of the hill.
-- James Gerstenzang
Five largest fires in California, officials said:
1. Cedar, October 2003, San Diego County, 273,246 acres
2. Zaca, July 2007, Santa Barbara County, 240,207 acres
3. Matilija, September 1932, Santa Barbara County, 220,000 acres
4. Witch (still burning), October 2007, San Diego County, 197,000 acres
5. Marble Cone, July 1977, Monterey County, 177,866 acres
-- Patrick McGreevy
As of about 9 a.m. today:
-- Valley fire, San Bernardino County, 11,900 acres, 3% contained
-- Witch fire, San Diego County, 197,990 acres, 20% contained
-- Poomacha fire, San Diego County, 35,000 acres, 20% contained
-- Rice fire, San Diego County, 9,000 acres, 30% contained
-- Santiago fire, Orange County, 22,000 acres, 30% contained
-- Harris fire, San Diego County, 81,100 acres, 10% contained
-- Ranch fire, Los Angeles County, 55,756 acres, 70% contained
-- Canyon fire, Los Angeles County, 45,000 acres, 85% contained
Sacramento:
The Witch fire in San Diego County is now the fourth-largest fire in California history, officials with the California Department of Forestry announced at a news conference this morning.
The fire has burned 197,000 acres and is 20% contained, said Daniel Berlant of the Department of Forestry.
-- Patrick McGreevy
Rancho Bernardo:
President Bush stopped at 18576 Lancashire in Rancho Bernardo, where little remained other than a spiral staircase draped with building material and a piece of wall bearing the tourquise-and-pink tile giving the address. It was the home of Jay and Kendra Jeffcoat. They gave Bush and the governor a tour through the rubble. Their cocker spaniel, Trevor, was tied to one of four palm trees still standing on the property and paid little attention. In the distance was a charred hillside, a tall white cross on its peak, bearing witness to the damage. To either side of the house, other homes had been burned to the ground, but across the street the two-story, tile-and-stucco homes appeared unscathed. One had a "For Sale" sign with the word "View." The president spent about 10 minutes at the address.
-- James Gerstenzang
Three of the four wildfires that broke out in recent days at Camp Pendleton -- including the Del Mar, San Luis Rey and Wilcox fires -- were fully contained, according to officials for the Marine Corps. As of this morning, the Horno fire had charred 17,000 acres and was half-surrounded.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Aboard Air Force One, en route to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar:
Pres. Bush boarded the plane in a steady rain. He was wearing a suit and tie.
Fran Townsend, the president’s homeland security advisor, said aboard Air Force One that the past few days had shown “disaster response exactly the way it should be.”
She said that although such disasters are primarily local events, the federal role is to support local and state governments, the federal government had been “leaning forward, proactive.”
She said that the federal government acted within an hour on the governor’s request for assistance on Monday night, and that FEMA launched its individual assistance program “before the sun came up on Wednesday.”
Reciting statistics that she said were likely outdated even as she spoke, She said that the fire had consumed 427,000 acres, 2,205 structures and produced one death—and possibly three-and 38 injuries. She said that the evacuation of 321,000 people was the largest in the state.
She said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had deployed 2,500 firefighters, and had approved a disaster food stamp program in San Diego.
The FBI and ATF were assisting arson investigators, Townsend said.
She said that the Defense Department had provided 214 active duty personnel, 72 civilians, 2,492 National Guard troops, for firefighting and security duties. She said an additional 17,295 National Guard troops were available. In addition, 28 helicopters and 14 fixed-wing aircraft had been provided, and C-130s had made five sorties on firefighting drops.
She said that while weather conditions seemed to be turning, it was “too soon” to say that a corner had been turned. Until the weather changes, she said, an air assault on the fire was not effective, either because chemicals and water would evaporate, or couldn’t be directed onto the fires.
Bush brought with him Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Reps. Elton Gallegly, Ken Calvert, Bob Filner and David Dreier. He was scheduled to be joined on the ground by the governor, and Reps. Brian Bilbray, Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa.
Rep. David Drier (R-San Dimas) on the post-Katrina period: “It was not an easy time. There was no doubt about that—the finger-pointing and all that.”
Drier compared the support given evacuees in California with the needs demonstrated by the victims of Katrina. He said that school bands performed for evacuees, acupuncturists offered their services, and volunteers in general were being turned away, their numbers greater than the need.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of people being turned away, he said, adding: “It sends out a different message” than that of Katrina’s victims holding up signs toward passing aircraft pleading for help.
“The state is regularly ready to deal with crises,” he said, noting that the state had to be ready to handle mudslides, fires and earthquakes.
He also noted that Bush had called the governor before Schwarzenegger asked for help on Monday. For Bush, he said, “that was a very good, positive thing.”
As if portraying the governor in his Hollywood days, Drier said that in a phone call with Schwarzenegger on Wednesday evening, the former action hero said “action, action, action. I want more action.” He aped the Austrian-born governor’s famous accent.
-- James Gerstenzang
Escondido:
President George W. Bush began an aerial tour of the fire damage at roughly 9:45 a.m., flying from Marine Air Station Miramar to a San Pasqual High School football field in Escondido. The route took him over Rancho Bernardo, according to a Marine Corps helicopter pilot. Some 500 houses were lost there. The tour covered a pastiche of Southern California: blackened hills, a tiled roof mansion spared at the top of one hill with blackened brush all around it. But not far away there were unscarred tennis courts and a J.C. Penney's.
The aerial tour lasted nearly a half hour.
Bush is scheduled to do a walking tour of Escondido.
-- James Gertzenstang
Rancho Bernardo:
Debby Stout, 47, and her son Steve Stout Jr., 24, found out from a television broadcast Monday that their house on Cabela Drive in the Westwood section of Rancho Bernardo had been lost.
“Our address came up on the news on the little ticker at the bottom, like a sports story. It was like Bam!” Steve Stout said.
They were at the service center Wednesday seeking FEMA cash assistance.
Newlyweds Tim Anderson, 27, a Marine stationed at Miramar Air base, and Jessica, 25, a Palomar College student, arrived at the center not knowing the fate of their first home together, an apartment in a complex called La Terraza, also in Westwood.
Finally reaching the front of a long line, they were told their apartment unit was not on the list of burned homes. “It looks like some of your neighbors took it pretty hard,” the clerk said.
Tim smiled. “Our building is not on the list, but the building next to us burned down or has damage. It could be the one our garage is in,” he said. But he sounded like he didn't quite believe the report. The home survived “according to their list. According to their list,” he kept repeating.
-- Tami Abdollah
Rancho Bernardo:
LeAnn Sullivan, 46, who lost her home on Cabela Drive in Rancho Bernardo, was in line at 6:30 a.m. today at the Rancho Bernardo service center. She described herself as a homemaker, but said, "I'm out of work today. I have no home to make. It's gone."
She said she and her husband, Paul, 47, who is the chief financial officer for the YMCA of San Diego County, have been staying at the Sheraton in downtown San Diego to stay away from fires. At first when they fled the fire Sunday, they went to Del Mar to stay with friends, but then they had to evacuate for a second time from that house.
Sullivan said her dog Sydney, an Australian shepherd, saved their lives by barking after a neighbor banging on the door had failed to rouse them. She said they awoke to a firestorm about 4 a.m. Sunday and had only enough time to grab their cat and dog and a few items of clothing before dashing out. They saw their home burning as they left.
"We need to find out what to do next," Sullivan said as she stood in line about 7 a.m. "We have no insurance papers, no titles, nothing. When you're leaving, you get the weirdest things."
She said she had very few clothes with her.
"I love to shop and I try to shop for clothes and I just stand there and cry," she said. "You think, 'Oh, that shirt looks cute with that skirt.' And then you think, 'Oh, that's gone.' "
On Saturday, the Sullivans are supposed to go on a weeklong cruise to Mexico. They never thought to get insurance, Sulllivan said. "They're like, 'You use it or you lose it,' " she said of the cruise company. "And we're like, fine. We'll be on that boat naked."
The Sullivans and their dog, Sydney, walked out of the service center about 10 a.m., after spending a little more than an hour inside. They had also managed to talk their way into taking a peek at their house.
"We got to see our home," Sullivan said. "Our patio furniture's still there but our house is gone. Isn't that funny?"
The Sullivans moved into their two-story home five years ago. It featured four bedrooms, two and a half baths and a pool. They remodeled about a year ago. Now, she said, only two fireplaces were left standing -- at least that's all she could see because the rubble was so thick.
"My family-room wall had two crosses that were candleholders and they're still there hanging on the fireplace wall, but that's all that's left," she said.
She left the service center with a white plastic bag full of handbooks and handouts on how to rebuild. She'd been given various other things, including a notepad and animal crackers, which she planned to feed to Sydney, who she said was too nervous to eat anything but treats. They'd also been given information on such things as how to list the contents of their house, how to find a contractor, how to avoid being ripped off by contractors or fake insurance companies.
Sullivan expressed confidence about avoiding those pitfalls, saying they had good referrals, good contacts in the city and had had all their questions answered in the service center.
Inside the service center, the Sullivans spoke to people whose homes had burned in 2003. The advice they gave, Sullivan said, was "take it day by day, and in time it will get better, week by week."
They also ran into her next-door neighbors. "It was nice to be able to make sure they're OK. Even though we lost everything, we're lucky to have the clothes on our back. We're still OK," she said.
Sullivan said her husband was with the local Rotary Club on Saturday, building homes in Mexico. The Sullivans and three other families in the group lost their homes.
"We were helping the homeless Saturday and were homeless Monday," she said.
Wiping the running mascara from her eyes, she described the service center as "great, they were fabulous."
"We're going to make it. That's what I can tell you," she said.
She said they would rebuild their home on the same ground where it once stood, partly out of necessity: "We've got a mortgage there."
But the game plan for now is finding alternate housing. "We've got to find a place to live," she said. "That's our next priority."
Sullivan said she grew up in Kansas and had lived through horrible tornados, but had never lost a home.
"I never want to go through that again," she said of the fire. "You can't imagine a catastrophe. You can see it, watch it, like when your friends' parents die and you don't know what to say. Everything is gone.... We'll just live day to day. You're numb and in shock."
-- Tami Abdollah
Rancho Bernardo:
At a cul-de-sac turnaround, Bush told reporters that he was visiting "to survey first-hand the terrible devastation done by the fire."
He had his right arm draped over the shoulder of Kendra Jeffcoat, who lost her home. Her face alternated between grimace and smile as she struggled to hold in her emotions.
"To the extent people need the help of the federal government, we will help," the president said. He said what he liked about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the attitude he demonstrated: "You show me a hill, I’ll go up it," the president said of the governor.
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