Wildfires destroy 270 homes, forcing more evacuations in California

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 27, 2003

Wildfires destroy 270 homes, forcing more evacuations in California

Driven by the Santa Ana winds,raging wildfires have scorched more than 270 homes in San Bernardino, southern California, and left thousands of residents homeless.

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Driven by the Santa Ana winds,raging wildfires have scorched more than 270 homes in San Bernardino, southern California, and left thousands of residents homeless.

The fire, which started Tuesday in the Rancho Cucamonga area ofthe San Bernardino County or 80 kilometers east of Los Angeles, has destroyed 16 homes in San Bernardino County and 50 others near Claremont in Los Angeles County.

The fire continued to spread westward, forcing many residents at the cities of La Verne and Claremont to evacuate. The fire had torched 34,000 acres of forest land.

"We're not sure exactly how many burned because we can't get upthere," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Edward Osorio. "Ourpriority of the moment right now is structure protection, not containment."

Closer to San Bernardino, a wildfire that burned at least 200 homes Saturday and was blamed for the stress-related deaths of two residents was threatening at least 1,000 homes.

The smoke and flames forced the evacuation of the San Manuel Indian Reservation's casino and the campus of California State University in San Bernardino, where flames damaged two temporary classrooms and a temporary fitness center. Patton State Hospital, which houses about 1,300 mental patients, also had to be evacuated.

In some areas, the two wildfires were only about two kilometers apart Sunday and were expected to eventually merge, said Ranger Gabriel Garcia of the San Bernardino National Forest's fire suppression agency.

Although the Santa Ana winds, which blew from the Nevada desert,had died down as the temperature dropped over night but they picked up again early Sunday, sending authorities rushing to evacuate hundreds more homes in the resort areas of Lake Arrowheadand Crestline, just north of San Bernardino.

About 160 kilometers to the northwest of the two fires, other wildfires were raging early Sunday in the hills above Simi Valley's Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) Presidential Library and near Piru, in Ventura County.

The fire had burned 47,000 acres by daybreak, damaged 14 homes and was threatening as many as 2,000 structures. It had also shut down Highway 118, the main route connecting Ventura County to Los Angeles.

In San Diego County, three wildfires were burning, including one that had destroyed seven homes in a neighborhood of estates near Ramona, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate., started whena lost hunter set off a signal fire to get attention, Saunders said. The man could face charges.

Governor Gray Davis declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino and Ventura counties late Saturday.

"We are taking every possible step to support the firefighting effort," Davis said. He said he called on President Bush to issue a disaster declaration to free up federal loan money for people who lost homes.

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