Hardships ahead for Calif. wildfire victims

updated 12:24 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2007

SAN DIEGO - With some of the worst wildfires dying down, many Southern Californians lucky enough to find their homes still standing could nevertheless face hardships for weeks to come, including polluted air, no electricity and no drinking water. Power lines are down in many burned-over areas, and the smoke and ash could irritate people's lungs for as long as the blazes keep burning.

Thousands of people returned to their neighborhoods Friday as shelters across Southern California began shutting down. The largest, Qualcomm Stadium, which had housed 10,000 refugees at the height of the disaster, was being emptied out and readied for Sunday's NFL football game between the San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans.

Randy and Aimee Powers, of Ramona, returned to their mountain community in San Diego County on Friday to find their home without electricity or water, after fire trucks drained the town's reservoir.

"It's better to be at home. We're going to stick it out and do whatever we have to do up here to survive. We'll make it through," said Randy Powers, who joined a half-mile-long car caravan on Ramona's Aqua Lane.

‘Pioneer mentality’
Powers headed for a Ramona park where a water distribution center was manned by the National Guard. He and his wife needed jugs of spring water for themselves and their tropical fish.

"We can't flush the toilets and we've opened up the floodgates and are letting everyone back. I'm not sure if that's a good thing," said Brad Fisher of the Ramona Community Emergency Response Team. "There's a real pioneer mentality."

Residents of 10,000 Ramona homes who called the water department when they found their water turned off were greeted by a recorded phone message that said: "We are in extreme water crisis situation. No water use is allowed."

About 12,600 San Diego Gas and Electric customers remained without power Friday and 675 were without natural gas, said utility spokeswoman April Bolduc. The outages were mainly in hard-hit areas like Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Fallbrook, Rancho San Diego and El Cajon.

Fires still burning
While the danger had eased considerably since the weekend, numerous fires were still burning out of control, and one in Orange County triggered renewed efforts to evacuate residents Friday.

In San Diego County, the area hardest hit, only one of five major fires was more than 50 percent contained. In the Lake Arrowhead mountain resort area of San Bernardino County, one of two fires that have destroyed more than 300 homes was 70 percent contained, while the other was only 15 percent contained. A blaze in Orange County that blackened 26,000 acres and destroyed 14 homes near Irvine was 30 percent contained, but it was sending up a massive plume of smoke at late afternoon.

Chris Carlson / AP Lisa Berta comforts Milena Combariza, who returned Thursday to find that wildfires had destroyed her San Diego house.

The activity of the blaze led officials to try to enforce an existing mandatory evacuation order that was ignored by some residents of isolated Silverado Canyon, said Lynnette Round, an Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman.

Authorities believe the blaze was deliberately set and asked for help finding a white Ford F-150 seen in the area where the fire started.

One of five people who have been arrested on arson charges since the wildfires broke out pleaded not guilty Friday. Police said witnesses spotted Catalino Pineda, 41, starting a fire Wednesday on a San Fernando Valley hillside. He is not linked to one of the major blazes.

Toll on people, property
In all, more than a dozen fires had raced across more than 490,000 acres — or 765 square miles — by Friday. At least three people and possibly seven have been killed by flames. Seven others died of various causes after being evacuated.

About 1,800 homes have been destroyed, and damage has been put at more than $1 billion in San Diego County alone.

Across Southern California, 60 firefighters and about 30 civilians have been injured.

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