Blaze Races Toward Arrowhead

An unrelenting wildfire jumped a fire line Tuesday in the San Bernardino Mountains and headed toward Lake Arrowhead, devouring homes and disease-racked forests in its path. Downcast fire officials said they appeared to be losing their battle for the alpine resort region.

The blaze, potentially catastrophic, was one of several fires that have burned close to 900 square miles of Southern California in the last week -- an area larger than Orange County -- leaving 16 people dead and destroying at least 2,000 homes, state officials said. Others raged from Ventura County to Mexico, forcing tens of thousands of additional evacuations and nearing more communities, including the Stevenson Ranch subdivision in northern Los Angeles County.

Fire destroyed the hamlet of Cuyamaca in the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego, authorities there said.

“We are experiencing a history-altering event,” said James M. Wright of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “We feel this is no doubt the most devastating natural disaster California’s faced, and also no doubt the most costly.”

A shift in the weather brought cooling marine breezes to soot-caked fire crews. It helped arrest some fires, but fanned others in new and treacherous directions. The National Weather Service was predicting gusty winds for this afternoon, which could hamper firefighting efforts in some areas.

As exhausted firefighters struggled to gain some measure of control over the fires, the head of the U.S. Forest Service sounded downhearted.

“It isn’t getting better yet,” Dale N. Bosworth said in an interview with The Times in Sacramento. “It’s pretty grim.”

Smoke filled the sky throughout much of Southern California, turning it a range of otherworldly colors, from a putrid grayish yellow to salmon pink.

Close to the fires, eyes stung, lungs ached.

Residents of threatened communities, many of whom moved to the fringe of wilderness to escape urban stress, were confronted with life-and-death decisions and wrenching heartache.

In the town of Running Springs, along Rim of the World Highway between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear, local fire Battalion Chief Ben Wilkins was besieged with telephone calls from anxious residents who had evacuated and wanted status reports on their homes and properties.

Wilkins, who recently bought a three-story log home in Running Springs, was sympathetic but frank. “I fully expect to lose my home today,” he told the callers.

“That’s the reality of the whole thing,” he said. “But I’ve got insurance, and I’ll rebuild. Our main concern is that no one loses their life here.”

Besides threatening homes, the fire at Stevenson Ranch endangered the Old Glory oak tree, where an activist spent 71 days nearly a year ago in an effort to save the tree from a road-widening project.

“It’s gonna be gone,” said Nathan Gonzales, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

John Quigley, the tree-sitting activist, said he was watching the fire on television in his Pacific Palisades home. “Obviously this thing is much bigger than the tree right now,” he said. “I’m just here sending out some good thoughts for the people out there.”

In Washington, House and Senate negotiators tentatively agreed to provide $500 million in emergency funding to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency respond to the California wildfires, as well as to Hurricane Isabel.

The spending was proposed by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), who called it a “down payment” on the amount that will be needed to repair and rebuild. He estimated the cost at more than $4 billion -- more than twice the losses incurred in the Oakland Hills fire of 1991, which had hitherto been considered California’s most expensive.

State officials estimated that damages from the current fires would exceed $2 billion.

Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives in the nation’s capital today to meet with members of Congress. A Schwarzenegger spokesman said the governor-elect planned to meet Thursday with FEMA officials.

President Bush, who on Monday declared four California counties to be a federal disaster area, promised again Tuesday to help the state.

“I express my deep concerns and sympathies for those whose lives have been hurt badly by these fires,” the president said. “The federal government is working closely with the state government to provide the resources necessary to help the brave firefighters do their duty.”

There were some encouraging trends Tuesday, including the shift from hot, dry, Santa Ana winds to cooler, moister onshore air flows. However, the trend alarmed firefighters around Lake Arrowhead, who had considered the Santa Ana winds their ally in pushing the fire down the south-facing slope of the mountains and away from resort communities.

Firefighters gained the upper hand on the Grand Prix fire, which burned nearly 50,000 acres in San Bernardino County just west of the Old fire, the one threatening Arrowhead. The Grand Prix was 50% contained Tuesday, and fire commanders said they had successfully defended the communities of Mt. Baldy Village and Lytle Creek.

“That pretty much ties up most of the Grand Prix fire,” fire official Rusty Witwer said.

A major break in the electrical transmission system was repaired, eliminating the likelihood that rolling blackouts might add to the region’s misery.

The Southwest Power Link, a major transmission line between Arizona and the San Diego area, had been knocked out by wildfires Monday. It returned to operation Tuesday, according to the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s electrical grid.

In addition, the second of two Ventura County power plants that had been closed Sunday because of fires returned to service Tuesday, Cal-ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle said. The other unit was turned back on Monday.

San Bernardino

The most dramatic developments Tuesday were in the mountains of San Bernardino County, where fire officials have worried for years about the explosive combination of brush-choked hillsides and pine forests ravaged by a bark beetle infestation.

As an estimated 20,000 mountain residents joined in a mostly orderly evacuation, fire roared through forests and homes in a line that roughly paralleled Highway 18, the Rim of the World Highway, and was moving north toward Lake Arrowhead.

“We’re absolutely heartbroken,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said. “We tried our best to prevent this, but it appears our worst fears are being realized today.”

Hansberger joined several fire and law enforcement officials at a news conference dominated by fears that the dry, vulnerable San Bernardino National Forest was doomed. Officials said 50,000 residences and 2,000 businesses in the mountains were threatened.

“The chances of preventing it from going into the communities on the mountaintop are very low,” said Hal Mortier, U.S. Forest Service incident commander of the fire.

Mortier conceded there might come a time when the flames could prove overwhelming to fire crews on the ground, leading to a retreat and a resigned decision by fire officials to fight the fire exclusively from the air.

By day’s end, officials said some homes had been lost in the communities of Rimforest, Crest Park and Skyforest, all along Highway 18. Tim Sappok, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry, said Santa’s Village was also threatened but had sustained only moderate damage.

“We’re at the mercy of Mother Nature right now,” said Sappok. “We face devastating fuel conditions, devastating weather. This fire hasn’t done what we want it to do. Its intensity has been surprising.”

California Highway Patrol officers presided over the evacuation along Highway 18. Traffic was moderately congested, said CHP official Tom Carmichael.

From the point where Highways 18 and 38 meet, at the western edge of Big Bear Lake, a long stream of pickups, cars and SUVs formed a sad procession out of town. Back seats were filled to the roof with clothes, coolers, animal carriers and an assortment of other belongings. Dogs sniffed the smoky air.

Most stores and businesses were closed, although some gas stations remained open and were doing a brisk business in fuel and food.

“We have no idea where we’re going,” said Ron Hammer, 42, owner of a Lake Arrowhead property maintenance business, as he prepared to leave with six family members and two dogs. “I’m just trying to get out of here.”

San Bernardino County sheriffs released the names of two elderly men who had suffered fatal heart attacks that were attributed to the fire -- the third and fourth such deaths in the county.

Gene Knowles, 75, of Big Bear died Sunday and Chad William, 70, of Crestline died Saturday night, authorities said without elaborating.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesman Chip Patterson said the deaths could elevate charges against two people who were being sought for setting the fire. “We consider all four of these deaths homicides,” Patterson said.

The county announced it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to their capture.

San Diego

With tiny Cuyamaca gone, hundreds of firefighters and a dozen engine companies formed a defensive line late Tuesday on the western outskirts of Julian, a historic gold-mining town that is now a tourist destination known for its apple festival. Julian was directly in the path of the fire, and firefighters hoped to save the town by lighting backfires and creating fire breaks.

Fire officials said it had been the first time they could mount an organized defense against the wildfires, rather than merely reacting as the blazes cut a path through the county.

Authorities said hundreds of structures had been incinerated in Cuyamaca. It was not clear how many of those were homes.

Supervisor Greg Cox, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, pleaded with homeowners not to delay when ordered to evacuate. He said several of the deaths caused by the fire had been the result of people’s not moving fast enough as the flames approached. Officials have made that statement several times since Sunday, although accounts by some witnesses appear to contradict it.

“When you are requested to leave, as hard as it may be, you need to do it,” Cox said.

As 11 damage assessment teams fanned out throughout the county to record the destruction, officials said the number of homes destroyed by the Cedar and Paradise fires might exceed 1,200. Some areas were still considered too unsafe for damage assessment, officials said.

More than 4,000 firefighters fought the blazes that stretched the length of the county, from Valley Center to the Mexican border. More than 300,000 acres have been blackened in San Diego County.

In Scripps Ranch, an affluent neighborhood in the city of San Diego, the number of destroyed homes was put at 345, with the inspection process not yet completed. Many of the homes were worth more than $1 million.

County Medical Examiner Glenn Wagner said he expected the county death toll to rise above the current 12 as investigators searched isolated pockets of homes in the Ramona-Lakeside area, where fire rampaged early Sunday morning.

“I can’t believe everybody got out of their homes,” Wagner said.

Much of the area continued in a kind of voluntary lockdown. Schools and businesses were closed. The county Health and Human Services Agency redoubled efforts to get meals to elderly people trapped at home.

Thousands remained in temporary shelters.

The Navy ordered the nuclear aircraft carrier John C. Stennis back to port so that sailors could return to their homes; another 800 sailors volunteered to assist firefighters, officials said. The guided missile destroyer Mustin was ordered to return at top speed from Pearl Harbor.

Firefighters from Northern California and other Western states began pouring into San Diego to join local personnel. Some expressed amazement at the extent of the devastation. “This is catastrophic,” said one Nevada firefighter.

Ventura/Los Angeles

In Ventura and Los Angeles counties, the fight against the 95,000-acre Simi fire moved onto rugged ridges overlooking Chatsworth, and a spur approached the Stevenson Ranch subdivision in Los Angeles County, just west of Santa Clarita. From near Interstate 5, flames could be seen curling into the sky along the hilltops. Ash fell like snow, whirling in circles before settling on the ground and blanketing cars.

Late Tuesday evening, fire officials said they were hopeful that they could keep the fire from burning any homes at Stevenson Ranch.

To the northwest, fire crews near Fillmore tried to stop a second large blaze, the Piru fire, from pushing through the Sespe Wilderness toward Santa Paula.

But the 30,500-acre Piru fire scaled Sespe Creek on Tuesday morning, and county Fire Chief Bob Roper said it could consume 200,000 acres before it’s done.

“It’s now burning in brush that has not burned in 60 years,” Roper reported to the Board of Supervisors. “It’s going to be tough to fight.”

Heavy fire-fighting equipment is not allowed in national wilderness areas and no hand crews were available to attack it.

Evacuation alerts were issued for the Santa Paula Canyon area, including Thomas Aquinas College, and the Upper Ojai Valley.

But Roper said he did not think the fire would move as fast as the Simi fire did last Saturday when it advanced 20 miles in a day. And there were signs that cooler weather and light ocean breezes were helping firefighters by tamping down flames.

All day long, about 1,000 firefighters also attacked hot spots near the farm communities of Piru and Fillmore, lighting still more backfires to keep flames away from structures.

As the Piru fire crept west, the Simi fire’s eastward movement also slowed near Chatsworth, a part of the city of Los Angeles in the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley, as more than 1,100 firefighters in both counties battled it to a standstill.

Also Tuesday, Jerry Moore, a U.S. Forest Service special agent who supervises the law enforcement division, said an arson suspect had confessed to starting the Piru fire, which has burned more than 50,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest.

Moore said the U.S. attorney’s office was investigating the suspect. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said no one has been taken into custody in connection with the fire and no one has been charged.

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Contributing to the fire coverage were Times staff writers Fred Alvarez, Patricia Ward Biederman, Sharon Bernstein, Miguel Bustillo, Carolyn Cole, Amanda Covarrubias, Richard Fausset, Robin Fields, Sue Fox, Megan Garvey, Scott Glover, Anna Gorman, Gregory W. Griggs, Carla Hall, Daniel Hernandez, Allison Hoffman, Peter Y. Hong, Daryl Kelley, Mitchell Landsberg, Jack Leonard, Caitlin Liu, Eric Malnic, Seema Mehta, Geoffrey Mohan, Monte Morin, Sandra Murillo, Tony Perry, Stuart Pfeifer, Gary Polakovic, Bob Pool, Lance Pugmire, Paul Pringle, H.G. Reza, Joel Rubin, Louis Sahagun, Kristina Sauerwein, Ann M. Simmons, Doug Smith, Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Julie Tamaki, Wendy Thermos, Nancy Vogel, Spencer Weiner, Janet Wilson, Tracy Wilson, Nancy Wride, Kimi Yoshino, Nora Zamichow and Alan Zarembo.