Day 3: Southern California fires continue

Fierce winds whip through the Rincon Indian Reservation under a waxing moon. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters battle the Ranch Fire near Lake Piru in Ventura County. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Amy Berling of Fallbrook hoses down the yard of a friend as flames approach homes on Sans Souci Drive in South Escondido. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Hector Hernandez tries to put out a spot fire on Palomar Mountain in San Diego County (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Numerous homes are burned on both sides of a street in Rancho Bernardo. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Flames threaten homes on a hillside near Running Springs. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Horses move restlessly as a fire approaches on Palomar Mountain in San Diego County. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A family retrieves possessions after being allowed into their unburned home in Escondido. A friend’s house across the street was lost to the fire. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

US Forest Service firefighters move a heavy water hose as they try to protect structures on Willow Drive in Running Springs. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A rabbit runs for shelter from the approaching flames of the Ranch Fire near Lake Piru. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Scott Wardwell tries to protect his home on the 30000 block of Live Oak Drive in Running Springs. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Evacuated from the Emerald Garden nursing home in Fallbrook, Marci Grussemeyer,92, says a prayer with her friend, Lillian Krajovick,92, as they lay down on cots at El Toro High School Red Cross shelter. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Residents of the Emerald Garden nursing home in Fallbrook sit at a table for dinner after they were evacuated to the El Toro High School because of the Santiago fire in Orange county. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Hand crews run from flames in a canyon as they protect the CC Ranch neighborhood in Castaic. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A helicopter makes a water drop on the Ranch Fire near Castaic. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Heat from a smoldering home obscures a burnt car in the Lake Hodges area of San Diego. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

A tired and exhausted Santa Cruz firefighter makes his way through grape vines after protecting a home near Via Rancho Parkway, north of Lake Hodges. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Residents of Rancho Bernardo wait in line for a police escort to their homes to collect medicines left behind along West Bernardo Drive Tuesday afternoon. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

San Diego City Fire Department Capt. Artur Jackson pauses in the rubble of a fire ravaged home along Aguamiel Road in Rancho Bernardo. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Louis Osuna of the Carlsbad Fire Department takes a break after fighting fires in the Lake Hodges area. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Winds gust as Richard Booth keeps a wildfire from his home off the Purer Road above Lake Hodges. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Large plume of smoke rises over the business district in Running Springs on Tuesday. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Brian and Sue Geraci survey the remains of their Modjeska Canyon home for the first time after it was destroyed by the Santiago fire. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Workers at Rancho Temescal equestrian facility assist firefighters near Lake Piru. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Brian McCullough, a job supervisor at Malibu Glass and Mirror, surveys the fire damage to the business in Malibu. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A boat catches fire in and amongst the charred surroundings off Modjeska Canyon Road. (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)

Grass Valley resident Elliott Gottfredson, 33, carries out bedding as he evacuates his home. Gottfredson, a resident since June, said, “I always knew living up here there was a strong possibility of all sorts of things going wrong.” Numerous homes surrounding his burned to the ground. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Kimberly Trzcinski, 38, of Grass Valley filters the smell of smoke as she prepares to evacuate. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County Fire Captain Al Bustillos wipes away sweat after setting backfires while fighting the Ranch Fire near Castaic. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A scarecrow with pumpkins adorns a yard of burning house on City Creek Road and Highway 330 in Running Springs. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A metal Halloween decoration is all that remains in the yard of a burned out home in Rancho Bernardo after fire swept through the day before. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A sobbing Sue Geraci is consoled by Linda Aguilar after seeing her Modjeska Canyon home for the first time since it was destroyed by the Santiago fire. (Karen Tapia -Andersen / Los Angeles Times)

Juan Mota, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter, tries to put out a blaze that destroyed a Running Springs home. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Forest Service firefighters Eric Soloman, left, and Juan Mota douse a burning house in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

San Bernardino Fire Capt. Grant Hubbell tackles a burning house in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Randy Wormdahl, a San Bernardino County firefighter, douses a hot spot early today on Black Oak Drive in Grass Valley, near Lake Arrowhead. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Chula Vista resident John Mercado watches the sunrise today as flames from the Harris fire line a hillside above Salt Creek Golf Club. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The charred remains of a vehicle in the Grass Valley Lake area of the San Bernardino Mountains. (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Tim Olson sprays a spot fire with a garden hose in an attempt to protect his Running Springs home. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

San Bernardino firefighters battle flames on Easy Street in Running Springs. Several homes were lost in the San Bernardino Mountains community. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Janie Mervar, who evacuated her Scripps Ranch home Monday, rests at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Ariel Yue peeks out of a tent in the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium on Monday night. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

A firefighter early today works to keep flames away from homes along Circle View Drive in Running Springs. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)

A firefighter can only watch as a house burns along Circle View Drive in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead early Tuesday morning. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)