Wildfires burn almost 10,000 acres in California's San Diego County
updated 1:56 PM EDT, Thu May 15, 2014
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The number of raging fires falls to eight, from three dozen overnight
- NEW: A total of 9,987 acres are now scorched earth
- NEW: A fire in San Marcos is now firefighters' No. 1 priority
- Thousands are ordered to evacuate; schools across region close
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Carlsbad, California (CNN) -- A major firefighting
offensive sought to douse wildfires Thursday that have so far charred
9,987 acres in California's San Diego County, with the worst being a
nearly uncontrollable blaze in San Marcos.
Helicopters, military
aircraft and extra crews, worked the fire which fire officials said was
only 5% contained as it burned 800 acres Thursday morning in San Marcos,
home to a California State University campus. The blaze forced the university to cancel this week's commencement and other activities, officials said.
In all, firefighters
faced three dozen fires overnight, but as of mid-morning Thursday, that
number had been reduced to eight, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant
said.
Evacuation orders for
several neighborhoods in San Marcos remained in place Thursday and at
least 350 evacuees without alternate housing spent Wednesday night in
shelters, officials said. Schools in many areas of the county were shut
down because of the fire, including the San Diego Unified School District.
With sunrise Thursday, firefighters knew they were in for a long day.
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"As quickly as the sun came up, so did the smoke," and the smoke meant fire, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler.
In addition to high
temperatures, dry winds and low humidity, officials were concerned about
firefighter fatigue after two days of battling the blazes.
In fact, Thursday will be the hottest day of the week, according to the National Weather Service, with forecast highs between 98 and 106.
The cause of the numerous
wildfires remained under investigation Thursday, but San Diego County
Sheriff Bill Gore noted the tinderbox conditions of southern California.
Grasses were so dry that setting a fire would take only a few hundred
degrees, and a spark from a catalytic converter easily carries 2,500 to
3,000 degrees of heat, Gore said.
"The grass is nothing but kindling for these fires," he told reporters.
Working in firefighters' favor Thursday were calmer Santa Ana winds -- the dry, hot gusts originating from the desert.
"We're fortunate today not to have the winds we had," said San Marcos Fire Chief Brett Van Wey.
About 2,200 homes in San Diego County were without power Thursday, officials said.
As homeowners seek to
repair their homes or find alternative housing, Sheriff Gore said
authorities will be watching for vandalism and price gouging at motels
and hardware stores. Prosecutors will file charges against anybody
taking advantage of homeowners' tragedies, Gore said.
San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said additional air tankers and firefighting helicopters will join the effort Thursday.
Firefighters deployed across the county, jumping on every hotspot that flared up.
The region is bone dry
after months of little rainfall and temperatures are brutally hot,
especially for May. Wildfire season typically peaks over the summer and
into the fall.
"The common theme
statewide this year is unprecedented number of fires and fire activity
across the state, in many cases two to three months earlier than
normal," Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection, told CNN's "New Day."
Getting the word out
Alert San Diego,
a countywide notification system, sent out nearly 122,000 emergency
telephone notifications on Wednesday as the wildfires sprang up.
Carlsbad alone issued 23,000 evacuation notices.
Carlsbad Fire Chief
Michael Davis said that as of Thursday, the Poinsettia Fire in Carlsbad
has burned 400 acres and is 60% contained. Four homes and 18 units of an
apartment building were destroyed by the fire, he said.
Numerous roads have been shut down while others have become clogged with people trying to escape.
Christina Echols
of Oceanside hasn't been told to leave -- yet. But with her home
sitting "in the middle of three fires" and a little over 7 miles from
the San Onofre nuclear power plant, she knows that call could come at
any moment.
"I am afraid of the fires right now," Echols told CNN's Erin Burnett.
She has plenty of company. Zeb Navarro, a CNN iReporter, said students at Palomar College in San Marcos are on pins and needles.
The school canceled activities Wednesday night, though Thursday classes are still on.
"Students are scared, and several of them are leaving," Navarro said. "Everyone is worried and praying that all is safe."
Military facilities threatened
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Another fire ignited
around Camp Pendleton, a mammoth Marine base and training facility for
multiple military branches, prompting evacuations of the O'Neill Heights
Housing Community, the De Luz Child Development Center and Mary Fay
Pendleton Elementary School, the Marines said.
Another blaze burned in
the community of Fallbrook, adjacent to the military post, which is the
West Coast boot camp for enlistees.
Cal Fire said the wildfire charred 6,000 acres around the military facilities.
A precautionary evacuation was ordered at the nearby San Onofre nuclear power plant,
which has been offline for two years because of another wildfire.
Southern California Edison spokeswoman Maureen Brown said "there is no
safety threat," though.
Among other locales, fires prompted the evacuations of the Legoland amusement park in Carlsbad on Wednesday, though it reopened Thursday.
Witness describes blaze as 'incredible'
The ferocious fires made for sensational viewing.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my
gosh!" California resident Kristin Michalec said on a video she shared
with CNN as she drove through raging flames in Carlsbad, near where she
lives.
"It was so hard to see because of the thick smoke," she later told CNN in an interview.
Rich Breeze saw a burning house explode in Carlsbad.
"No one hurt that I know of. Everyone was out of the house at the time," Breeze told CNN iReport. "We were just right there when it exploded. It was just super intense.
"The fire was just incredible. It was beyond anything you've ever seen before," he said.
Jay Ringgold, an
information technology manager in Carlsbad, smelled the smoke easily.
Santa Ana winds, also called devil winds, whipped up the fires.
"People were very
surprised that it came that close to the business district. There are a
lot of big companies there -- near that is a brush area and homes," said
Ringgold, a CNN iReporter. "Everyone was panicking and wanting to get out of there."
CNN's Paul Vercammen reported from Carlsbad,
while Ed Payne wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Greg Botelho, Michael
Martinez, Amanda Watts and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this
report.
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