San Diego up in flames

[MyCARZ]

It's just crazy out here. Santa Ana winds FTL Any of you keeping up with what's going on in this part of the country? Check this story MSN put out:

‘We can’t stop it’
Officials all but concede defeat to wildfires as estimated 1 million evacuate

SAN DIEGO - Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased an estimated 1 million people away.

Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that’s not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react — tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring.

“If it’s this big and blowing with as much wind as it’s got, it’ll go all the way to the ocean before it stops,” said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. “We can save some stuff but we can’t stop it.”

Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles — an area larger than New York City — killing one person, destroying more than 1,300 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles through San Diego to the Mexican border.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.

“We have had an unfortunate situation that we’ve had three things come together: very dry areas, very hot weather and then a lot of wind,” Schwarzenegger said. “And so this makes the perfect storm for a fire.”

In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight.

“These winds are so strong, we’re not trying to fight this fire,” said firefighter Jim Gelrud, an engineer from Vista, Calif. “We’re just trying to save the buildings.”

Check out the rest of the story here!

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MyCARZ

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In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight.

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I grew up in Rancho Santa Fe. That's crazy! I had no idea. Talk about million dollar homes just burned to a crisp. I hope the winds die down soon, and the destruction is contained before more homes and lives are lost.