Calif. WildFire Crews Aided by Easing Winds
Pastor Dale Morgan
Calif. WildFire Crews Aided by Easing Winds*
Thursday October 25, 2007 5:01 AM
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A merciful easing of the winds fueling Southern
California's sprawling wildfires finally gave fire crews a chance to
fight back against some blazes Wednesday, and weary residents could take
solace in an overriding sign of hope: Just one person has died from the
flames.
That contrasts to 22 dead from a fire of similar magnitude in 2003. And
while the final toll has yet to be tallied from this week's fires,
officials were crediting an automated, reverse 911 calling system that
prompted the orderly evacuation of more than half a million people - 10
times the number evacuated four years ago.
``They are more determined that people leave,'' said Steve Levstik, who
got his call 15 minutes before flames swept through his Rancho Bernardo
neighborhood.
``It was very intense. On the call, it was like, 'This area, go! This
area, go!' In 2003 there was less guidance. It was like, 'Just pay
attention to the news and if it looks bad, leave.'''
On Wednesday, winds dropped to 21 to 36 mph, considerably less than the
fierce gusts of up to 100 mph that whipped fire zones earlier in the week.
The improving weather allowed for a greater aerial assault on the flames
and helped firefighters beat back the most destructive blazes.
Helicopters and air tankers dropped 30 to 35 loads of water on two fires
that have burned hundreds of homes in the San Bernardino Mountains, near
Lake Arrowhead.
``They're taking it down considerably,'' said Dennis Bouslaugh of the
U.S. Forest Service.
Firefighters had fully contained the three major fires in Los Angeles
County by nightfall, and largely contained many of the fires north of
San Diego.
Despite the progress, none of the six major blazes in San Diego County
was more than 15 percent contained, and those fires threatened more than
8,500 houses. The top priority was a fire in San Bernardino County that
threatened 6,000 homes and continued to rage out of control.
So far, this week's fires have destroyed about 1,500 homes and burned
682 square miles across five counties, from Ventura in the north all the
way into Mexico. The state Office of Emergency Services said 28,000
homes were still threatened.
Property damage has reached at least $1 billion in San Diego County
alone, and President Bush signed a major disaster declaration for
California. The president was scheduled to visit the region Thursday.
The death toll from the most recent blazes may rise as fires continue to
burn and authorities return to neighborhoods where homes turned to piles
of ash, but displaced homeowners and authorities were relieved that
early reports were so low.
The San Diego County medical examiner officially listed six deaths
connected to the blazes, but he included five who died during the
evacuation who were not directly killed by the fire. In 2003, all but a
handful of the 22 dead succumbed to the flames.
Terry Dooley, who was ordered out of his home with his wife and three
sons Monday, said authorities learned important lessons from Hurricane
Katrina and the 2003 California fires that wiped out 3,640 homes and
blackened 750,000 acres during a two-week period.
``They learned how to get things done more quickly,'' Dooley said as he
waited at a roadblock Wednesday to return home to San Diego's upscale,
densely populated Rancho Bernardo area.
In addition to the reverse-911 system, authorities shut down schools,
halted mail delivery and urged people to stay home and off the roads if
they were not in danger.
Another factor separating these fire from other disasters has been
wealth. Unlike many of the poor neighborhoods flooded by Hurricane
Katrina, the hardest-hit areas in California were filled with upscale
homes, with easy access to wide streets. Less wealthy areas - including
rural enclaves and horse farms that stretch through the mountains east
of San Diego - benefited from easy road access and small crowds.
On Wednesday, about two dozen people gathered at a police barricade in
Rancho Bernardo, which was one of the hardest-hit areas, hoping to
retrieve medications and belongings - or simply to see if their homes
were intact.
What awaited many was an apocalyptic scene: entire streets leveled, cars
reduced to charred hulks of metal, homes with only chimneys left
standing. House after house, 29 on one street alone, were reduced to
piles of blackened concrete, twisted metal and white ash.
At one point, police officers lifted a barricade into the neighborhood
only to turn residents away several hundred yards down the road at a
second barricade. Some of the homeowners cursed at the officers.
``You let us in just to send us back out,'' one angry man yelled from
his car.
Dooley knew his home was OK because his home answering machine still worked.
Six of San Diego County's 42 evacuation centers were full Wednesday but
there was plenty of space at Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL Chargers,
where 10,000 people sought refuge. People rested on cots that lined
covered walkways circling the bleachers and quietly watched television
as National Guard troops watched. There were no bathroom lines.
Some displaced homeowners complained that the evacuations went too far.
Ron Morris, 68, saw smoke but no flames when he was ordered to leave a
motor home park in Ramona, northeast of San Diego, Sunday night. He
drove his recreational vehicle to Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot.
``It's good that everyone got out, but they did it too early in my
opinion.'' he said.
Authorities made no apologies.
``One happy consequence'' of the 2003 fires is that people remember that
fire can be very unpredictable, Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff said.
``All but the most unlucky people can see the fire coming,'' he said.
``There's no reason you should have loss of life, certainly for civilians.''
The causes of many fires remained under investigation. A 30-square-mile
Orange County fire that destroyed nine homes was believed to be arson
because authorities found three different ignition points within a short
distance.
In San Bernardino County, a motorcyclist who authorities say set a small
fire in a rural foothill area of the San Bernardino Mountains has been
booked for investigation of arson, but investigators said they didn't
know whether he was connected to any of the larger fires.
In the city of San Bernardino, police said they shot and killed a man
who fled Tuesday night when officers approached to see if he might be
trying to set a fire. After a chase, the man, whose name was not
released, backed his car into a police cruiser and an officer opened
fire, police said.
The only confirmed death from the flames was Thomas Varshock, 52, of
Tecate, a town on the U.S. side of the border southeast of San Diego. He
was ordered to evacuate, but he didn't leave and authorities left him to
take care of other evacuations.
Al Guerin, a San Diego County assistant sheriff, estimated only 100 to
200 people ignored evacuation orders. That included 20 people in the
rural community of Jamul, near the Mexican border. Firefighters returned
to save them.
Homeowners who stayed behind knew firefighters were overwhelmed and
figured their lives were safe, Guerin said.
``They say, 'Yeah, OK,' and then they call you later and say 'Help!
Help! Help!''' he said.
Despite road blocks in the San Bernardino mountains, east of Los
Angeles, some stayed behind.
``They don't want to lose their stuff,'' said Running Springs resident
Don Rice. ``And they get overconfident. We've all made it through a lot
of fires.''
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Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Allison Hoffman and Scott
Lindlaw in San Diego, and Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles, and AP
National Writer Martha Mendoza in Running Springs, Calif., contributed
to this report.