Hospital moving out final patients

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By 4 p.m., a few patients at the emergency room at Pomerado Hospital in Poway had received their final care and were waiting outside for their buses and ambulances to take them elsewhere.

‘We got all of them out. There are just a few left in the emergency room and a few staff and doctors,’ said San Diego Police Officer Kenneth Verdone.

Authorities said friends and relatives could call (858) 613-4000 to locate patients.

Along Poway Road, Juan Morellos of Oaxaca, Mexico, rode his bike. He seemed nonplussed by the evacuation. ‘I saw a house burn to the east and there is fire all around,’ he said, pedaling away as he accepted a bottle of water from a stranger.

-- Jill Leovy