LOS ANGELES—As people decorate for Halloween in southern California, it is typical to keep an eye out for the Santa Anas—winds from the east that pick up very dry air as they blow across the deserts and mountains.
This year, the weather reports on television over the weekend warned that the worst Santa Anas in a long time might be on their way. Last Sunday morning, the winds started to blow, and by early afternoon the streets in the town of San Clemente were littered with palm fronds and dry leaves.
Residents of the region awoke on Monday morning before sunrise to find a sky that looked overcast, but with the sunrise came the realization that it was not rain clouds, but dust clouds that turned the sky tan.
Some porches were covered with a layer of fine brown dust and cars parked on the street had dust and ash covering their windshields. There was no blue sky all day long.
In areas throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties, wildfires sprang up as the dry winds sucked all moisture out of already drought-stricken shrubbery. A chance spark from a downed electric line or a vehicle lit the tinder and was fanned into flames, according to local media reports. In the city of Irvine, three fires began at the same time in the same area, arousing suspicions of arson.
After battling the first wind-swept flames last Sunday, emergency crews were out early Monday morning to sound the alarm to residents as the path of the fire became apparent. Police and emergency workers went out into communities to knock on doors and make broadcasts on public address systems to evacuate.
In the San Marcos area of San Diego, resident George Stamm said his family heard someone knocking on their door on Monday morning, telling them to leave. Like many others, they went to stay with family or friends who lived closer to the ocean, and were able to return home in the evening once the fire's direction changed.
Others found refuge in shelters set up as part of the emergency response or took to the freeways to leave the area entirely.
By noon on Monday there were two major fires raging in San Diego, called the Harris fire and the Witch fire. One person had died close to the Mexican border and four people were reported injured. By late Tuesday a second death was reported.
In Los Angeles County, a fire swept through the Malibu area and burned two historic buildings, the Castle and the Presbyterian Church, and around the county there were several fires at various stages.
As the winds calmed down or picked up, the state of each fire continued to change. Even in the mountainous areas where it would seem there was more moisture from the lakes and greener trees, the fires raged out of control. Many homes were lost in the Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear areas.
Some of the other threatened communities included Potrero, Barrett Junction, Barrett Lake area, Engineer Springs, Dulzura, Deerhorn Valley, Lawson Valley, Jamul, Lyons Valley area, and Otay Mountain.
Approximately 170,000 acres had burned and multiple evacuation centers were set up throughout affected communities. The massive statewide effort to contain at least 16 fires has included more than 6,000 firefighters—including reinforcements from northern California, thousands of trucks, airtankers, and helicopters.
The fires had to be fought mostly by the fire hoses and hand crews, since flying airtankers that can drop fire suppressant or water on the blazes from above had difficulty going into the air because of the winds and smoke. Helicopters were able to fly in at some points and could bring in lots of water to cool down a hot spot and stop the spread of the fire.
Some of the affected communities where citizens were hunkering down to wait out the blazes were visited by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who declared a state of emergency in seven counties. Gov. Schwarzenegger, who was in southern California's Lake Arrowhead on Tuesday, said during a press conference broadcast on his Web site that he was in evacuation centers until midnight the day before. The governor said the effect of the fires so far has been devastating.
"In San Diego we have seen evacuations of over 300,000 people. Here you have evacuation of more than 15,000 people," said Gov. Schwarzenegger. He added that caring for the well-being of the thousands of evacuees is complicated.
"I mean, you have to think about sometimes the little things that fall through the cracks—if there is enough baby formula there, for instance, in those places, because there are a lot of babies. Do they have enough diapers, do they have toilet paper, do they have the cots, do they have the blankets? Do we have enough nurses and medical teams there? Because there is a certain percentage of people always that need medical attention," said Schwarzenegger.
During a Monday San Diego emergency officials press conference, a spokesperson from the San Diego Electric & Gas Company reported that there had been five power outages affecting 24,000 customers. Some electric poles had been burned and power lines were down.
According to a spokesperson for the electric company in Orange County and Los Angeles, power flow can be managed to minimize damage and outages. When a fire moves through an area of power lines sometimes the lines and poles are not damaged but the supply is turned off due to soot and debris in the air stopping the transmission of the power. When this happens the electric company can cut the power to some areas and fix the problem, thus getting the energy restored within half an hour or less, compared to the experiences in the past when it would take hours to reset the transmitters.
The freeways in the area were jammed, but evacuations were orderly. Though the feeling in the air was ominous, with the sky dark and ashes swirling around, the mood of the people was remarkably calm and helpful. Every comment told of people looking out for each other, and praising the fire departments, and reflecting on what is really of value in one's life.