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Property damage from Southern California fires set at $1 billion and rising
Half a million people flee as 16 blazes destroy 1,300 homes
Denis Poroy/Associated Press
A helicopter from the California Department of Forestry drops water over the Del Dios neighborhood in Escondido, Calif., as flames rage. Helicopters and airplanes fighting the Southern California wildfires have been hampered by fierce winds. At times wind gusts have reached 100 mph. The winds were expected to begin tapering off later today.
Luis Sinco/Los angeles Times via AP
Only a few homes were left standing after a wildfire swept through this block in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Evacuation orders continued today in the San Diego area, as residents of the communities of Fallbrook and Julian were ordered out of their homes.
Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
Patricia Foley and her nephew, Govinda Saba, look over the ruins of Foley's burned out home in the Bouquet Canyon area of the Angeles National Forest near Santa Clarita, Calif. Foley owned two homes on the property and found both a total loss when she returned Tuesday. The fires that began Sunday have burned 665 square miles, causing at least $1 billion in damage.
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SAN DIEGO — The devastating wildfires in Southern California have caused at least $1 billion in damage in San Diego County alone, officials said today.
Meanwhile, the fierce Santa Ana winds started to moderate slightly across the region today, although stiff gusts continued to blow through some canyon areas. Forecasters said the wind eventually would be followed by cooling sea breezes.
The shift could allow for a greater use of aircraft and help firefighters beat back the 16 blazes burning across a seven county area, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.
"If the weather cooperates, maybe we can turn the tide," he said.
Crews were also anticipating an injection of additional firefighters and equipment from other Western states, including New Mexico.
The fires, now in their fourth day, have destroyed 1,500 homes and caused at least a half-million people to flee - the largest evacuation in state history.
At least 1,200 of the damaged homes were in San Diego County. Thousands of people packed emergency shelters, including Qualcomm Stadium, where the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League play.
"Clearly, this is going to be a $1 billion or more disaster," Ron Lane, San Diego County's director of emergency services, said during a news conference.
Other hard-hit areas included San Bernardino County, where hundreds of homes burned in the mountain resort communities near Lake Arrowhead.
The announcement of San Diego's staggering losses came as President Bush signed a major disaster declaration for California in the wake of wildfires that have burned about 665 square miles.
The declaration puts in motion long-term federal recovery programs to help state and local governments, families, individuals and certain nonprofit organizations recover.
"Americans all across this land care deeply about them," the president said after a Cabinet meeting convened to coordinate federal relief efforts. "We're concerned about their safety. We're concerned about their property."
Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 other people have been injured. One man was killed by the flames, and the San Diego Medical Examiner's Office listed four other deaths as connected to the blazes.
Five blazes continued to burn in San Diego County. The largest fire had consumed about 300 square miles from Witch Creek to Rancho Santa Fe, destroying 650 homes, businesses and other buildings.
Frustration about firefighting effort began to emerge Tuesday when a fire official said not enough had been done to protect homes.
Orange County Fire Chief Chip Prather said firefighters' lives were threatened because too few crews were on the ground. He said a quick deployment of aircraft could have corralled a massive blaze near Irvine.
"It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire," he said.
The state's top firefighter said Prather misstated the availability of firefighters and equipment. Eight of the state's nine water-dumping helicopters were in Southern California by Sunday, when the first fires began, along with 13 air tankers, said Ruben Grijalva, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Grijalva said the fires, spread by winds that at times topped 100 mph, would have overwhelmed most efforts to fight them.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dismissed the criticism and praised the rapid deployment of fire crews and equipment across a region that stretches from Malibu to the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Anyone that is complaining about the planes just wants to complain because there's a bunch of nonsense," he said. "The fact is that we could have all the planes in the world here - we have 90 aircraft here and six that we got especially from the federal government - and they can't fly because of the wind situation."
Evacuation orders continued today. Residents of the San Diego County communities of Fallbrook and Julian, an area devastated by a 2003 wildfire, were ordered out of their homes.
Officials were also evacuating De Luz, an unincorporated community north of Camp Pendleton that was threatened by a wildfire burning on the Marine base. That fire closed Interstate 5 and the Metrolink commuter rail, snagging the morning commute.
Residents of some San Diego County neighborhoods were gradually being allowed to return, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said at a news conference.
Many returned Tuesday to two evacuated neighborhoods in San Diego - Del Mar Heights, near the ocean, and Scripps Ranch - as well as an evacuated portion of the city of Poway. Evacuation orders in Del Mar Highlands and Carmel Valley have also been lifted, said San Diego County spokeswoman Leslie Kirk.
At emergency shelters, many people had agonizing waits to find out whether their homes had survived.
"I'm ready to go, but at the same time, I don't want to go up there and be surprised," said Mary Busch, 41, who did not know whether her home in Ramona was still standing.
She has been at the evacuation center at Qualcomm Stadium since Monday, sleeping in her SUV with her 11- and 8-year-old sons.
"I feel safe there," she said. "It's all I have. I don't have any way to know what happened to my house."
Others were eager to return to houses they were confident had survived.
"I called my home and my answering machine still works, so that's how I know we're OK," said Rancho Bernardo resident Fuli Du, who packed his belongings today preparing to leave Qualcomm.
He spent his 41st birthday Tuesday at the stadium, where he has been staying with his wife and two young sons.
"I don't know when I'll be able to go back, but I'm ready to go home," he said.
