Fires lose momentum Authorities trying to learn why so many sprang up at once
SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Firefighters aided by calmer winds made progress yesterday against a series of wildfires burning across San Diego County, and authorities collected clues and solicited the public’s help to determine what caused so many blazes to occur simultaneously.
While some of the multiple fires were extinguished and thousands of people were able to return to their homes, the San Marcos blaze roared back in the afternoon. Flames raced along scrubby hillsides as massive black plumes filled the skies.
Yesterday evening, the city of Carlsbad said a badly burned body was found while firefighters were checking hot spots on a fire that began a day earlier. The city says it had no informa-
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tion about the person who died.
It appears to be the first fatality in fires throughout the San Diego region that have destroyed eight homes, an 18-unit apartment complex and two businesses. The Carlsbad fire has burned more than 15 square miles, causing more than $20 million in damage.
Sheriff Bill Gore said the flareup prompted more than 13,000 new evacuation notices and acted as a “reminder to everybody just how volatile this can be.”
While drought conditions and unusually high temperatures made the area ripe for wildfires, there are suspicions that at least some of the blazes might have been set. Gore said arson is being looked at, but so are many other possibilities, such as sparks from vehicles.
Since the fires began on Tuesday, 125,000 evacuation notices have been sent. Schools across the county were shut down, and the Legoland amusement park had to close on Wednesday. It reopened yesterday.
While authorities congratulated themselves for the cooperative effort among agencies and the bravery shown by firefighters, not everyone was pleased.
Greg Saska stood in front of his charred Carlsbad home yesterday in sandals that showed his soot-covered feet. He said he was not impressed with the fire response.
“I don’t want to complain, but I wish they had just made a little more effort to put the fire out,” Saska said. “The end of the house … was still burning. And they (firefighters) just left. And I’m just kinda going, ‘What would’ve been the big deal to stay here another 10 minutes and put that out totally?’ I just don’t get it.”
The flare-up in San Marcos ran up a slope in a heavily vegetated area but with no wind on it. The fire was being driven by fuel and topography, said Division Chief Dave Allen of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“It’s created its own weather pattern there as it sucks oxygen in,” he said.
State Fire Capt. Kendal Bortisser said the fire was running east along hillsides behind California State University, San Marcos, which canceled graduation ceremonies because of the danger from the flames.
The 11⁄ 2- square-mile blaze was only 5 percent contained by late yesterday afternoon.
Firefighters have been contending with heat in their fight to contain flames fueled by brush left brittle by drought. Temperatures yesterday ranged from the high 90s to 100.
Calmer winds allowed aircraft to make a heavy contribution to firefighting efforts. Four tankers and 22 military helicopters were being used, in addition to local agency helicopters.
Ten of the military helicopters were helping battle a large fire on the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton. It was 20 percent contained and no longer considered a threat to communities.