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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
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