Emergency.Blog

Number of SoCal Evacuees Reaches 500,000

22:00 PDT - 23 Oct 2007

Unrelenting fires char S. California, at least half a million flee

Highlights - Increasing Federal Participation in SoCal Fires

· 3,000 Marines evacuated at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego

· Defense Department firefighting teams fighting the blazes, official says

· President Bush is set to visit Southern California on Thursday

· More than a half-million people evacuated in San Diego County alone

SAN DIEGO, CA: Relentless wildfires roared through Southern California for a third day Tuesday, sending more than half a million residents fleeing with family members, pets and whatever prize possessions they could fit in their vehicles.

The blazes have charred 400,000 acres and reduced 1,300 homes -- 1,000 in San Diego County -- to ash.

The fires have killed one person and injured more than 50. Earlier Tuesday, officials erroneously reported that a second person had died.

Earlier Tuesday, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, said the number of evacuees "could very well approach 500,000 by the end of the day."

By Tuesday night, officials had evacuated nearly 350,000 homes in San Diego County. Using U.S. Census Bureau numbers from the 2000 census, that could mean as many as 950,000 were affected by the fires.

In San Diego County, at least 513,000 residents had been ordered to find refuge in shelters, schools and stadiums as fires pushed into new areas.

Twelve thousand more people were advised but not ordered to evacuate. Watch a fire official describe "utter devastation"

President Bush will visit the area Thursday, the White House said. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff arrived in San Diego on Tuesday afternoon.

Chertoff promised a different federal reaction from the one in New Orleans in 2005. "We have been preparing and planning and training together for the last 2? years," he said.

And the scene at Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday did seem to live up to Chertoff's expectations as volunteers cheerily handed out chairs, food and water. The Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered 25,000 cots early Tuesday.

Free newspapers were available, National Guard troops kept watch, ventriloquists and balloon artists entertained kids, and even massage therapists were trying to help the 12,000 to 15,000 evacuees relax as they fretted about the fate of their homes. Watch evacuees try to pass the time as they worry about their homes »

Meanwhile, at least two fires raged on the property of the U.S. Marines' Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Three-thousand Marines were evacuated Tuesday evening.

Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said 550 Camp Pendleton Marines were preparing to deploy to the fire area.

As the Santa Ana winds, which approached 70 mph, fueled the fires, 1,400 Navy personnel and their families were evacuated, the Pentagon said. See photos of the fires »

-- Continues/Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/wildfire.ca/index.html