Shelter registers almost 1,000 refugees

San Bernardino:

About 975 people have registered with the American Red Cross shelter in San Bernardino, according to Dianne Strutt, the shelter's manager. Some ate dinner, others dozed on cots while 20 kids played soccer in one corner of the building. Strutt said that if they break 1,000 refugees, they will open up a similar building on the fairgrounds to take in more people.

In the parking lot, a few dozen people stayed in their cars or RVs. A makeshift animal shelter maintained by the San Bernardino County Vector Control housed about 75 dogs and cats in a truck with cages, according to Mark Scina, the shelter's on-site manager.

For Jana Robertson, a 20-year resident of Crestline, the camping cots were too painful to sleep on because of a neck injury she suffered in a car accident in 2001. During the 2003 fire she stayed with friends, but this time they had moved away. So she was given some towels to roll up under her neck as she slept in her Suzuki Grand Vitara.

"You really do take for granted the luxuries back home, even if it is in the mountains. God, it'd be great to shower though."

Like many residents stranded either inside or outside the shelter, Robertson said it's painful waiting to find out the damage the fire has inflicted. "Faith is what I hope most of us have packed tonight."

-- Francisco VaraOrta