News Events Wildfires California
October 2007

Two more fires in San Diego County were declared 100 percent contained Sunday, the latest good news for Southern California as it enters its second week dealing with an outbreak of wildfires that has destroyed more than half a million acres across seven counties.

With more than a dozen fires fully surrounded, firefighters were pushing to complete lines around seven others. Containment of those blazes ranged from 50 percent to 97 percent. Read more

Firefighters on Wednesday began to assert control over wildfires that have burned through nearly 500,000 acres and displaced half a million residents over four days in Southern California.

While many fires continued to burn Wednesday, especially east of San Diego, and officials warned that weather changes could reinvigorate waning flames, lower temperatures and abating winds have helped to greatly reduce the threat. Read more

President Bush, preparing for his first view of Southern California's fire devastation, assured those who have fled to safety that the federal government is committed to helping them. ``We'll continue to make sure that our efforts are coordinated, that we are responsive to the needs and people,'' Bush said Wednesday after a special Cabinet meeting. ``And most importantly, I want the people in Southern California to know that Americans all across this land care deeply about them.'' Read more

More San Diego County residents faced orders to leave their homes early Wednesday as wildfires threatened new areas of charred, smoke-choked Southern California. Read more

Relentless wildfires roared through Southern California for a third day Tuesday, sending more than half a million residents fleeing with family members, pets and whatever prize possessions they could fit in their vehicles.

The blazes have charred 400,000 acres and reduced 1,300 homes -- 1,000 in San Diego County -- to ash.

The fires have killed one person and injured more than 50. Earlier Tuesday, officials erroneously reported that a second person had died. Read more

More than a quarter of a million people were urged to flee their homes on Monday as wildfires ravaged Southern California for a second day, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and charring swaths of scrub and forestland.

The fires, a Hydra with at least 15 separate burns in seven counties fed by gale-force winds, burned some 267,000 acres from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. Engines and firefighters from as far as Nevada and Arizona were summoned as resources were stretched to the limit. Read more

The U.S. Department of Defense agreed Monday to send six aircraft fitted with airborne firefighting equipment to help battle the rampant wildfires across southern California, where more than 250,000 households had been told to flee their homes. Read more

A series of wildfires Sunday in Southern California led to evacuations in some areas, and killed at least one person and injured 17 others in San Diego County, according to officials.

Four firefighters and 13 civilians were hurt in the southeastern part of San Diego County, said Roxanne Provaznik, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Read more