California fire razes retirement park, kills race horses
FALLBROOK, California — A brush fire driven by gusty winds that have plagued Southern California all week exploded rapidly Thursday north of San Diego, destroying dozens of trailer homes in a retirement community and killing race horses at an elite training facility.
The fire expanded to about 10 square kilometres in a matter of hours and tore through the tightly packed Rancho Monserate Country Club community in the small city of Fallbrook, known for its avocado orchards and horse ranches. At least two people were hospitalized with burns.
The destructive blaze broke out as firefighters tried to corral the largest fire in the state that was burning around Ventura — 210 kilometres to the north — and destroyed 430 buildings as it grew to about 470 square km since Monday. Fire crews also fought large fires around Los Angeles, making enough progress to lift most evacuation orders.
Ten years ago, as a series of similar fires raced across Southern California, a blaze in Fallbrook injured five people, destroyed 206 homes and burned 36 square km.
Thursday’s fire wiped out rows of trailer homes in the retirement community and left behind charred and mangled metal where they had stood.
The fire blew across six lanes of State Highway 76, which was closed in both directions. Evacuations were ordered in the area near the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base and schools and casinos were used as shelters.
As the flames approached the elite San Luis Rey Downs training facility for thoroughbreds, many of the more than 450 horses were cut loose to prevent them from being trapped in their stables if barns caught fire, said Mac McBride of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Horse trainer Scott Hansen said he knows that some of his 30 horses at the facility died.
“I don’t know how many are living and how many are dead,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to figure that out in the morning.”
Most of the horses were saved, McBride said, and were being loaded to go to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Some ranchers posted urgent pleas on Twitter for help moving horses, including Rawhide Ranch, known for running riding camps for children.
The fire and a smaller one about 20 km north in the city of Murrieta broke out the day after state officials sent an unprecedented alert to cellphones across seven Southern California counties warning that strong Santa Ana winds could cause extreme fire danger. Although hurricane-force winds predicted did not materialize, firefighters faced gusts that fanned flames and put thousands of homes in jeopardy.
Along the coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara, beach communities were under siege as fire leapt from steep hillsides across U.S. Highway 101.