Evacuees stream into fairgrounds

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San Bernardino:

By Tuesday afternoon, the number of evacuees at the Orange View Fairgrounds in San Bernardino had grown to nearly 1,500 from about 900 Monday night. Most of the arrivals were coming from the burned areas near Lake Arrowhead.

Children were playing and people milled about in tank tops and shorts under a blazing sun. In the parking lot, dozens of tents were set up among RVs and rows of cars. One woman was sunbathing in the bed of a pickup truck.

An animal shelter, made up of dozens of cages in a large tent, held dogs, cats, rabbits and birds.

Two large warehouses have been converted into dorms, filled with cots and tables that offered fire information and services to evacuees. Inside people napped, read books and watched a large graphic projected on a wall showing the progress of the fires.

-Francisco Vara-Orta in San Bernardino