Grim scene left behind in Rancho Bernardo

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The outlook was grim in the 12000 block of Cloudesly Drive in Rancho Bernardo about 2:30 p.m.

The residential development sits just east of Interstate 15 and is made up of two-story stucco homes with tile and composition roofs. A handful of firefighters from San Diego Engine Company 41 were trying to save one home, but flames had begun to gnaw into the roof.

The wind was whipping in every direction, greatly complicating matters by spreading burning embers throughout the neighborhood. The fire had hopscotched through the neighborhood, destroying some homes and leaving others untouched. The sprinkler system still ran in the yard of one home that burned, apparently having been turned on by a neighbor before he fled.

At another home, the lawn had actually caught fire.

-- Robert Lopez