A strike team of local firefighters was sent to help battle the
raging wildfires that have already destroyed more than 500,000
acres in four Southern California counties.
Approximately 50 members of the San Benito-Monterey unit of the
California Department of Forestry were sent to parts of Los
Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, Battalion
Chief Curt Itson said.
A strike team of local firefighters was sent to help battle the raging wildfires that have already destroyed more than 500,000 acres in four Southern California counties.
Approximately 50 members of the San Benito-Monterey unit of the California Department of Forestry were sent to parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, Battalion Chief Curt Itson said.
The local strike team, which is made up of about 10 fire engines, two hand crews and local air support, is part of more than 25 other strike teams and 125 engines trying to put out the massive fires.
Brush fires in the region are nothing new, but it has been the size of the fires that are cause for concern, Itson said.
“It’s a common California occurrence for the Santa Ana winds to whip up a brush fire, but this is especially bad this year,” Itson said.
He said the size and intensity of the wildfires, which have destroyed 1,134 homes, makes this especially dangerous work for the firefighters involved.
“It’s just an explosive situation,” Itson said. “It’s hot, dangerous and stressful work.”
Sending such a sizable contingent of local firefighters south will not endanger fire protection in the area, Itson said.
He said CDF practices a technique called “Move up and Cover.” As firefighters from all over Central California move up to battle the major fire concern, a contingent of firefighters from Northern California are helping to cover Central California fire stations to at least supply a safe level of staffing, Itson said.
He said that CDF has also canceled all vacation and days off for firefighters until the wildfires are under control or put out completely.
“So we are in pretty good shape,” Itson said.
The situation in Southern California, however, is not so bright.
Wildfires that have burned for days merged into walls of flame stretching across miles in parts of Southern California on Sunday, leaving 15 people dead and frustrating overmatched firefighters who worked relentlessly against fierce winds.
The largest fire is in eastern San Diego County and has caused at least nine deaths, including two who died inside their car as they tried to escape the flames, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.
A total of 10 major fires are burning in the southern part of the state, including a cluster of fires in the San Diego area and another about 100 miles north near San Bernardino. By Sunday night, the fires had scorched 264,000 acres.
Fire also forced the evacuation of a Federal Aviation Administration control center in San Diego, disrupting air travel across the nation. Some airlines canceled flights into the region.
The largest fire, at more than 100,000 acres, started Saturday near the mountain town of Julian when a lost hunter set off a signal fire, authorities said. The hunter was detained and may face charges.
That fire killed one person whose body was found in a trailer, one in a motor home and a total of four in vehicles, county sheriff’s spokeswoman Susan Knauss said. Three were killed while trying to escape on foot and two were dead on arrival at local hospitals.
About 260 homes were destroyed, San Diego police said.
Another fire near San Diego that started Sunday killed two people and destroyed 36 homes while burning 3,000 acres, Lora Lowes of the California Department of Forestry said. It also prompted evacuations in northeastern Escondido.
The flames drew much of their strength from the fierce Santa Ana winds, whose gusts of up to 70 mph moved the fires along.
Around the suburbs of San Bernardino, one flank of a 50,000-acre fire burned through four towns while the other flank destroyed more than 300 homes.
Two men collapsed and died, one as he was evacuating his canyon home and the other as he watched his house burn, the county coroner said.
The 30-mile fire in the San Bernardino area was formed when two smaller fires merged, covering the region with thick smoke and ash.
Other fires on the outskirts of Los Angeles County merged to create a 80,000-acre fire that threatened 2,000 homes in four communities and closed four highways, sealing off access to two mountain towns, fire spokeswoman Michele Alcorn said.
Gov. Gray Davis, who visited the San Bernardino fire on Friday, announced Sunday that he was extending the state of emergency to Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
“This is a terrible situation,” Davis said. “These are the worst fires that we’ve faced in California in 10 years.”
Davis’ administration also gave an emergency briefing to Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Some of the evacuations ordered included Indian reservation casinos, California State University San Bernardino, where fire burned two temporary classrooms and a temporary fitness center, and Patton State Hospital, home to 1,300 mental patients.
About 1,100 prison inmates also were evacuated, and at least 200 juvenile wards were evacuated Sunday from two probation camps in La Verne, said Ken Kondo, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Probation Department spokesman.
San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy asked the National Football League to cancel Monday night’s football game between the Chargers and Miami Dolphins because Qualcomm Stadium, where the game was supposed to be played is being used as a an evacuation center. The NFL granted Murphy’s request and moved the game to a stadium in Tempe, Ariz. Admission to the game was free but the NFL was encouraging spectators to make donations. The donations will go toward a fire relief fund in San Diego.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
