LOS ANGELES — In a disaster driven by wind, breezes dying across Southern California on Wednesday translated into rising hope.
About 20 brush fires continued to roar, part of a conflagration that has destroyed 1,600 structures, displaced hundreds of thousands and sullied the air for millions more across the region.
But gradually decreasing winds allowed the 8,000 exhausted firefighters to stand and fight the flames rather than dash from one hot spot to another. Aircraft arriving from across the country found free rein to bombard the fires from above.
The greatest hope came from weather reports predicting that the most extreme Santa Ana winds — peaking at 60 to 80 mph in recent days — largely would disappear. Temperatures were expected to drop as much as 15 degrees today in some places, and the extremely low humidity should ease.
Blazes in Malibu, where the first fires leapt down canyons toward the sea on Sunday, were declared under control Wednesday, and the Pacific Coast Highway reopened. So did many stores as a hint of normalcy crept into view.
Farther south in San Diego County, the hardest hit of the seven affected counties, a trickle of residents ventured from evacuation centers to check on homes that, in most cases, still stood. But the way was far from clear: A fast-moving blaze in the vast Camp Pendleton Marine base threatened the last remaining power lines that provide the county with almost all of its electricity.
The other major link, which ran from Arizona, was severed by another fire earlier in the week, forcing the power company to import electricity from Mexico.
Officials said they suspected that some of the fires had been deliberately set. Police in San Bernardino County said they shot and killed a suspected arsonist Tuesday night and arrested another arson suspect a few hours later. County officials also beefed up patrols to prevent looting after several looters were arrested in nearby San Diego County.
So far, only one death can be directly linked to the flames. But the director of San Diego County emergency services provided the first estimate of damage: $1 billion “or more,” Ron Lane said.
It was unclear how many people left their homes to begin with. California’s Office of Emergency Services said 351,000 people were officially instructed to evacuate, including 250,000 around San Diego. A spokeswoman said the agency could not account for reports that put the number of evacuees nearly three times that high.
For some, the abating fires posed confusing choices about when to return home. At Qualcomm Stadium, Jeff Jones and his family spent the night in a tent after being evacuated from the Rancho Bernardo community of San Diego. He had being calling neighbors to see whether it was safe to return.
Finally he said, “To heck with this place. It’s nice, but I want to go home.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
