47 Homes Razed in San Diego Fire : Normal Heights Damage in Millions as Inferno Blazes a Mile-Long Path

A fire primed by San Diego’s hottest weather of the year roared out of a steep, brush-covered canyon Sunday and burned a path of devastation through the handsome, older neighborhood of Normal Heights, destroying 47 homes, damaging about 15 others and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The blaze, which authorities called the most destructive in the city’s history, was battled by more than 400 firefighters from 11:54 a.m. until well past nightfall. As midnight neared, Fire Department officials said the blaze had been 95% contained.

Firefighters and police were planning to remain on the scene late into the night, wary that hot spots might touch off more blazes.

Logan Bellows, a San Diego Fire Department spokesman, said it was “the worst grass (and) structure fire in the history of San Diego.” Police Chief Bill Kolender called it “the worst we’ve had in modern times.”

Injuries Mostly Minor

There were no deaths, and the 24 injuries reported--heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and cinders in eyes--were described as largely minor. Several firefighters and residents who tried to fight the flames themselves were treated at first aid stations for exhaustion, first- and second-degree burns and eye irritation.

At least five persons, including two infants suffering from smoke inhalation, were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, where they were treated and released, authorities said.

With property damages initially estimated by the county’s Emergency Management Office at $5.3 million and expected to climb much higher, city officials called on Gov. George Deukmejian to declare a state of emergency in the fire area--a move that would enable property owners to get low-interest loans to rebuild and repair their homes. The governor’s office was not expected to make a response until today or later this week.

Many of the people left homeless in the one-mile by 1/2-mile fire-plagued area gathered in an evacuation center set up at the Normal Heights United Methodist Church. The story told by Martha Brewer, who lost her home on Cliff Place, was not unusual.

“I ran out back to open the gate so that firemen could get in. Then we had to leave,” Brewer said. She pointed to the housecoat she was wearing: “We only have the things on our back.”

On a day in which temperatures reached 96 degrees--the hottest June 30th on record by 12 degrees--firefighters from San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and Orange counties were called in to battle the blaze. They used more than 90 mobile fire units.

The San Diego County Fire Department also called in its off-duty firefighters for the first time since the September, 1978, PSA airliner crash and fire that killed 147 people and destroyed 16 homes.

Two air tankers from Ventura County made six passes over the fire, dumping thousands of gallons of a chemical fire retardant in the canyons to slow the blaze.

Capt. Larry Carlson of Metro Arson Strike Team said investigators have no idea what caused the blaze. He said the investigation will take at least one or two days.

From the start, firefighters were hampered by the heat and a shifting breeze that was made more turbulent by the fire itself. By the time the first fire trucks arrived at 11:54 a.m., the flames had already leaped out of the canyon and engulfed several homes, Fire Department spokesman Larry Stewart said.

Authorities said the nature of Normal Heights itself--a community of homes on the plateau overlooking Mission Valley, southeast of the crossing of the I-8 and I-805 freeways--made the blaze more difficult to fight.

The plateau is broken by several smaller finger canyons with steep canyon walls that “acted like a chimney” for the flames, one official said. The homes, many of which are 40 years old and have combustible shake shingle roofs, are particularly vulnerable to fire, officials said.

Stewart said the combination of the hot weather, the fire and the canyons resulted in a “firestorm” effect. The breeze “gets more turbulent as the fire inhales the oxygen,” Stewart explained.

“The fire started jumping from canyon to canyon. Once we got one knocked down, it seemed to have spread to another spot and another,” he said.

Their effort to control the fire was also hampered for hours by low water pressure on the plateau--a problem compounded by the fact that scores of residents had turned on garden hoses to wet down their homes.

Firefighters and police officials kept urging residents to turn off their hoses. One resident said he decided to turn off his hose only after a police officer drew a pistol and pointed it at him.

More than 150 policemen were called out to cordon off the area and prevent looting, but as of nightfall there had been no reports of vandalism.

Traffic slowed on Interstate 8 between the Texas Street and 40th Street exits, where motorists could see flames licking the canyon walls close to the freeway, and houses burning high on the rim of the canyon.

Some observers likened the scene of the fire to a war zone. In some places, rows of homes were burned to the ground, while an occasional home seemed untouched. In other places, the neat rows of standing homes were broken by the blackened shell of a neighboring structure.

Hundreds of persons evacuated the neighborhood, piling their possessions into cars and trucks or simply moving their furniture into the street. Dazed residents, some holding wet handkerchiefs to their faces against the smoke, watched helplessly as firefighters poured water on the remaining hot spots.

One homeowner standing on a corner asked a reporter whose press credentials allowed him to cross police lines to see if his house, only six doors away, was safe. The reporter was able to see that one of the homes three doors away was aflame, but the thick smoke prevented him from looking farther.

Later in the afternoon, several residents who had been forced to evacuate made their way back to their homes only to find just a foundation and a chimney.

Late into the night, many residents still were uncertain whether they had homes to return to, or whether they would be able to reclaim household articles and mementos collected during the more than 40 years many have lived in the neighborhood.

Fire officials said homes were destroyed on East Mountain View Drive, Cliff Place, on 34th Street, on Ellison Place, on Litchfield Road, on Hawley Boulevard, on Cromwell Place and on Panama Place.

Times Staff Writers Kathleen H. Cooley, Marilee Enge, Greg Johnson, Marjorie Miller, Lorena Oropeza and Nancy Reed contributed to this story.