Horses killed as wildfires sweep across state
RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES built on golf courses and thoroughbred racehorse stables were engulfed by flames as California’s wildfires reached the San Diego area.
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.
Herds of horses galloped past flaming palm trees in their chaotic escape. Not all survived.
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.
The California Horse Racing Board said approximately 25 horses were killed when eight barns burned and others in nearby pastures were unaccounted for.
Surviving horses were taken to Del Mar race track and yesterday races at Los Alamitos Race Course were cancelled as the racing community mourned.
The dry, hot, windy conditions across the region would be extreme for any season, but are especially surprising just two weeks from winter.
Flames covered six square miles in a matter of hours and burned dozens of houses in the tightly packed Rancho Monserate Country Club community in the small city of Fallbrook.
Three people were burned while escaping the flame and at least 65 structures were destroyed, said fire officials.
The fire was on the eastern border of the Marine Corps’ vast Camp Pendleton.
Elsewhere, firefighters in Ventura County, north-west of Los Angeles, were able to contain ten per cent of the largest and most destructive fire in the state, which has destroyed 430 buildings. The so-called Thomas Fire has grown to 206 square miles since Monday.
Fire crews also made enough progress against other large fires around Los Angeles to lift most evacuation orders.
The fire 50 miles north of San Diego, driven by winds above 35mph, razed rows of mobile homes in the retirement community, leaving charred and mangled metal in its wake.
It was not immediately known what sparked the fire next to State Highway 76, but strong winds carried it across six lanes to the other side.
Evacuations were ordered in the area near the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base and schools and casinos were being used as shelters.
Inland from the coast the big fire burned vigorously in mountains near the town of Fillmore. It also remained a threat to Ojai, a scenic mountain town of 7,000 people known for its New Age spiritual retreats.