Fire Watch 2007: Full coverage

A group of San Diego County homeowners who rebuilt knew they had a mission when disaster struck again in October.

At least 35 homes have been burned and about 200 more are threatened in Malibu as a wind-driven fire raced through 1,500 acres this morning, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

Some who lost homes in the blaze say the money may determine if they’ll rebuild.

No evidence exists of intent by the 10-year-old, L.A. County prosecutors say. Twenty-one homes were destroyed and 38,000 acres burned.

SAN DIEGO -- A woman burned near Tecate by the Harris fire died Tuesday at UC San Diego Medical Center, officials said.

Volunteers, some who also had crossed illegally from Mexico years ago, set out to find a migrant who vanished during the Harris fire in San Diego.

Scientists fear blazes will contribute to winter landslides, water contamination and further loss of imperiled animal populations.

Firefighters, hoping to contain the stubborn Santiago and Poomacha blazes by Sunday night, now expect containment sometime this week.

They are responsible for some of the region’s worst blazes. Utilities can make repairs, but the costs are steep.

The capricious fire hits some, spares others and plants seeds of unity.

In anticipation of Santa Ana winds returning, departments across the Southland are implementing some of the lessons learned during last week’s destructive blazes.

Fire ripped through the Orange County community, but the spirits of a hardy core of volunteer firefighters and neighbors survived.

People who know him say the boy is distraught that he started the Buckweed fire, which destroyed 21 homes.

Crews work to fully contain the blaze, while gearing up for returning Santa Ana winds.

California State Parks announced that it will start taking reservations for campsites in most parks in the burn areas of Southern California.

The Buckweed fire in the Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita areas was ignited by a youth playing with matches, sheriff’s officials say.

Ninety percent of one reservation goes up in smoke. Leaders say better coordination with the state in the future is necessary.

The plea uses lines from a recent radio address by an assemblywoman.

Arson investigators did not identify the boy or provide details about where he allegedly started the 38,000-acre Santa Clarita-area blaze.

His leadership during the recent blazes is widely praised. Some liken him to Giuliani after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Five men from a remote San Bernardino enclave hold off the Slide fire with shovels and hoses until firefighters arrive.

To break the cycle of build and burn, those who create and approve subdivisions in Southern California must take site and climate into consideration.

At services in Del Mar and Malibu, parishioners say their devotion will see them through a dark period and resolve to rebound.

Fires add to strain on military personnel caught between the commitment to serve their country and the need to be with loved ones in time of need.

Refusing to leave his retreat, rabbi devotes himself to serving crews battling the Slide blaze.

Two of last week’s blazes were deliberately set. History shows that catching a fire-starter requires diligent investigation -- and some unexpected breaks.

‘We don’t just say, “Your house burned down; you’re on your own.” We take them there,’ an O.C. fire captain says. Chaplains also come along.

Some Southland residents turn to worship and cleanup, as authorities say they are gaining the upper hand on remaining fires.

Substandard staffing, grounded aircraft and fewer reserve crews delayed efforts to quash the Santiago blaze.

A Florida couple marry at the Wild Animal Park, which had been closed because of the fires. Their backup plan was a real Zoo.

A store parking lot in Orange is turned into a haven for Santiago fire evacuees.

Seeing U.S. agents and being asked for ID at rescue centers spark concern among illegal immigrants, making them wary of seeking help.

Distant smoke became up-close terror as the Witch fire descended during a terrifying 24-hour period. There wasn’t time to make hard decisions.

Despite, or perhaps because of, Southern California’s wildfires, an L.A. department recruitment seminar draws plenty of applicants.

Although smoky skies have prompted health warnings, many in Southern California venture outside after days of being cooped up.

The Silverado Canyon fire is ‘extremely active,’ an official says. Many are evacuated for the second time in a week.

Blaze reaches the community and comes to within a mile of homes, but authorities are optimistic about keeping it at bay. Officials say a white pickup truck might be linked to an arsonist.

Cool, moist air — drizzle in some places — lets firefighters make big gains, but Santa Anas could return.

Agency employees, not reporters, asked questions at the event. Homeland Security calls the lapse ‘offensive and inexcusable.’

The Orange County blaze continues to threaten 750 homes in Silverado Canyon, while the fire near Running Springs in San Bernardino County is just 15% contained.

DULZURA, Calif. — They were on their way back to Jamul, weary from dousing a flare-up along winding California 94.

The last of the fire evacuees leave the stadium today. The team will play its scheduled game against the Houston Texans.

An insurance adjuster deals with details and emotions as he helps fire victims begin the claims process.

One family manages to save their pets plus those of their neighbors.

When Southland clients’ multimillion-dollar homes were threatened, insurer AIG dispatched crews with fire retardant.

The volunteer firefighters in a remote Orange County canyon -- and their 1947 pumper, Gertrude -- brace for the Santiago fire.

That foul air covering most of Southern California could be as damaging to your car as to your lungs.

A border checkpoint is temporarily unguarded but hundreds are smoked out of ravines and several are burned.

A ragtag army, most of which was untrained, came together to fight the Poomacha fire on reservation land.

Group works together using 600 feet of fire hose one of them bought to protect half a dozen houses in the High Valley area.

Administrators complain that the department of fire protection took too long to authorize use of water-dropping aircraft.

Three years ago, more than 61% of voters favored raising the room tariff to pay for fire services. But approval required a two-thirds majority.

6 more bodies are found; fierce blazes rage in wilderness areas

Forest Service’s nimble trucks can reach hillside neighborhoods, an ability that’s been crucial to the efforts in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Rancho Bernardo resident -- and his new home -- survived the fire after he defied mandatory evacuation orders.

The public’s help is sought, and the reward now stands at $150,000. Tips have poured in but have led to no suspects.

Most evacuations of senior facilities amid the San Diego County fires went as planned, health officials say.

Fire statistics, raw emotions, stories of heroism and despair. It’s all too familiar to Southern Californians.

ESCONDIDO -- The howling Santa Ana winds may have saved Roger Bielasz’s life even as they threatened to end it.

Flames from the Santiago fire are threatening 750 homes; officials say the area’s fate depends on which way the wind blows.

But whether Chargers will play at Qualcomm as scheduled on Sunday remains undetermined. Sanders says the decision is up to team and NFL.

Haunted by a legacy of mismanagement over Hurricane Katrina, the president seeks to convey an image care and command.

The Global Hawk will relay infrared images to civilian authorities in the unmanned drone’s first domestic surveillance mission.

Poor air quality forces extracurricular activities throughout Southland to be curtailed.

Firefighters report significant containment of several fires. Several arson probes are launched.

Schwarzenegger is at ease in a role that puts him in the limelight and calls for decisive action.

Police in San Bernardino shoot an Arizona man who fled after being spotted near the Cal State campus. In a separate incident, a Hesperia man is in custody.

The Big Bear Hot Shots fight fires by hand. Among them, the bulldozer driver commands a special respect.

Firefighters in San Diego County sensed from the start that they were outmatched this time. Maddeningly intense blazes met explosive suburban growth.

Despite early estimates, it’s likely that substantially fewer than first estimated fled flames.

Only 19 of 150 promised new firetrucks have been ordered, and new home-building rules won’t take effect until January.

Canyon Country students say they feared for their school, friends as Buckweed fire raged through the area.

A federal effort to clear brush and remove trees in the Arrowhead area is controversial but makes a difference.

Malibu Presbyterian members feel a sense of loss, yet view the disaster as an opportunity to enlarge their ministry. The destruction won’t stop the pastor from honoring a $500,000 pledge, he says.

Containment shrinks to 30% as winds kick up. Blaze is expected to move into Riverside County in the next 12 to 24 hours.

- Insurance companies, already scrambling to bring in personnel from across the country to handle a surge in fire claims, got help today from California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

President says he wants Southern Californians ‘to know that Americans all across this land care deeply about them.’ Some Democrats criticize federal preparedness.

Because of fires, game against Houston might be played Monday at Qualcomm Stadium or in Texas.

Amid fires’ devastation, some people are seeking a pleasant respite, course managers say

Hikers leave the trail in search of food and find a ghost town.

Those whose homes suffer at least $10,000 in fire damage may seek reassessment and a corrected tax bill or refund.

The plan that helped San Diegans evacuate this week faces serious logistical obstacles in this area. Some cities do have their own versions.

Call him Noah: Former Warner Bros. executive Bob Daly evacuates a menagerie of more than 200 birds and animals to safety - and temporary digs in Bel-Air.

Southern California has long been plagued by wind and drought, but climate change may make for a drier future, scientists say.

Even as blazes are doused and winds die, unhealthful air is expected to hang around. Experts advise people to stay indoors.

Criticism is mounting that the region was unprepared.

The Tinkers say they and their neighbors on a San Diego County hilltop weren’t warned of the approaching fire. A fire marshal’s tips from years ago saved them.

With abundant food from various ethnic cuisines and a sea of volunteers to distribute it and other provisions, Qualcomm Stadium is opulent compared to most disaster shelters.

Firefighters worry that the wind could blow the fires together, a scenario that a U.S. Forest Service official says ‘could be catastrophic.’

Times staff writer Janet Wilson, who has lived in a creekside stone house in Modjeska Canyon in Orange County for nearly nine years, returned from her wedding Monday evening to find her home threatened by the Santiago fire.

Ramona Airport is the hub for San Diego’s air assault. But the runway caught fire. Then the water failed. And the planes went elsewhere.

Because of topographical quirks, Santa Ana winds funnel particulates to the beachfront community, even if fires are nowhere near.

Newer communities have been built with fire resistance in mind.

State official predicts ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ in damages.

Huddled in portable shelters, they hoped they would survive.

Blazes are prioritized at the Riverside facility based on their size, threat to life, potential to spread and danger to property.

Residents of San Diego’s hard-hit Rancho Bernardo neighborhood discover their fate during an escorted visit.

The area was devastated by the 2003 Cedar blaze. As new fires threaten, residents don’t want to believe it could happen again.

They began arriving late Monday, people displaced by the San Diego County fires seeking refuge from the red flaming storm.

The Southern California fires wreaked havoc on cellphone service, destroying dozens of antenna towers, causing power outages in other areas and leaving many residents with no other means of communication.

Evacuees were camped in the aisles and parking lot of the facility, as doctors and nurses on an upper floor aided evacuated nursing home residents.

More than 19,000 acres burned in O.C., thousands evacuated

Steve Lopez is in San Diego County reporting from the fires.

High winds and fires have left about 9,250 homes in Southern California without power tonight as fires continued to batter the region, said Gil Alexander of Southern California Edison.

RUNNING SPRINGS Residents ‘have no idea what is happening to their property’ The owners had already fled and the two houses perched on a hill were destroyed in minutes.

President Bush today declared a state of emergency in Southern California, paving the way for federal aid to help fight the region’s wildfires.

The number of blazes and their wind-whipped ferocity strain the area’s firefighting resources to the limit.

Unfazed by wildfires, some say they would never live anywhere else.

Air quality in spots is called “very unhealthy.” Officials warn against breathing particles.

A Rancho Bernardo resident and the veteran motorcycle officer tasked to evacuate his neighborhood see the looming flames differently.

Stations turn much of their Monday airtime over to live coverage.

As the region again goes up in flames, firefighters and residents find that not enough has changed to help them cope.

Seasoned Arrowhead residents are stunned by flames. “We’re mountain people; we’re tough,” one victim says.

SAN DIEGO -- Diane Doroski knew it was time to pack up and leave home when she saw a strange new ingredient sprinkled atop her breakfast quesadilla: ash.

Crews engage in a back-and-forth battle as flames spread in the Saugus, Piru and Stevenson Ranch areas.

Winds have ballooned the blaze to 25,000 acres. ‘We’re doing the best we can with what we have,’ a fire official says.

Lacking air support in the suspected arson, they use shovels and picks to tame flames racing toward homes.

Fires in the area are too familiar. Earlier this year, 11 seaside homes were destroyed or damaged. And in 1993, a suspected arson caused $219 million worth of damage.