SAN DIEGO — Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has destroyed nearly 2,000 homes and forced more than 560,000 people to evacuate.
Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that’s not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react — tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring.
“If it’s this big and blowing with as much wind as it’s got, it’ll go all the way to the ocean before it stops,” said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. “We can save some stuff but we can’t stop it.”
Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing at least one person, destroying more than 1,800 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.
In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight.
“These winds are so strong, we’re not trying to fight this fire,” said firefighter Jim Gelrud of Vista, Calif. “We’re just trying to save the buildings.”
San Diego County authorities estimated about 513,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
But while most San Diego County residents were given ample notice from authorities to evacuate their homes, the Tinker family and others in their neighborhood above San Pasqual Valley received no such warnings and were caught by surprise when flames raced up the mountainside.
For more than two hours, the Tinker family sat parked in a minivan on their property with the motor running and the air conditioning blasting, wondering whether the end was near. Outside, black smoke engulfed the van, and glowing embers, the size of golf balls, bombarded the vehicle.
“When you see how much rage there is in a fire, that is no place to be,” said Henry Tinker, the family patriarch.
More than two hours later, the fire died down and they could leave the van.
President Bush, who planned to visit the region Thursday, declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Bush “has instructed everyone in the federal government to move as rapidly and fully as possible.”
Fire crews were especially concerned about dense eucalyptus groves in Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe, fearing the highly flammable trees could turn neighborhoods into potential tinderboxes.
The usual tactic is to surround a fire on two sides and try to choke it off. But with fires whipped by gusts that have surpassed 100 mph, that strategy doesn’t work because embers can be swept miles ahead of the fire’s front line. In those cases, crews must keep 10 to 30 feet back from the flames or risk their own lives, Los Angeles County firefighter Daryl Parish said.
Any flame longer than 8 feet is considered unstoppable, and even water and fire retardant will evaporate before they reach the ground, said Gordon Schmidt, a retired U.S. Forest Service deputy director of fire management.
“Truth is, some of (the homes) are not defensible. Period. Or savable,” Los Angeles Battalion Chief Jim Curaralo said.
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