A hellish front of firestorms has burned across Southern California since Saturday night, prompting the largest evacuation in the state’s history as hundreds of thousands of residents fled for their lives.
Driven by stiff Santa Ana winds across the drought-stricken region covered by a string of wealthy cities, the series of furious wildfires are already some of the worst in California’s history, destroying an estimated 1,250 homes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency, and a total of 340,000 households were ordered to evacuate, in what is the largest evacuation ever in California.
Pepperdine University was also forced to evacuate its campus in Malibu, but students at Biola University are safe for the time being. However, the safety at school doesn’t calm students whose homes are in danger.
Sophomore Brittany Thomas’ family was evacuated from their home in Canyon Country on Sunday night, but was able to move back in early the next morning due to the fire’s change of direction. However, her home is still not entirely safe, and this concerns her.
“It’s your home. It’s where I grew up and to maybe have it gone is scary,” Thomas said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven counties, mobilizing all the state’s resources to fight what he called the ”perfect firestorm.”
It was also the largest evacuation since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was met with a much hastier response by government.
These fires and evacuations have affected many Biola students. Some students’ homes have been completely burned to the ground, some students’ families have just been evacuated, and some students are still waiting to hear what is going to happen to their families and homes.
Sophomore Shanelle Doughlin is a student who is waiting for news.
“Three fires are surrounding my house, but since it is in a canyon, we have not been evacuated,” Doughlin said. However, despite the fact that her family hasn’t been evacuated yet, Doughlin says her family is prepared to leave if necessary.
“My mom is prepared … and is keeping the cat in a room detached from the house because she wants to be able to grab him if we have to leave,” Doughlin said.
Sophomore Ryan Leith has had a similar experience.
“You look out my window in my house, and you see fire,” Leith said. “It’s a weird feeling. I wouldn’t say I’m worried right now. I’m kind of at peace with it because I know God has everything under control. I’m trying to have a positive attitude, but the fires are just supposed to get way worse.”
Biola President Barry Corey offered prayer support from himself and the Biola community.
“We want to prayerfully support those who are going through hard times. Our hearts go out to those who got affected by the fire in Southern California,” Corey said in an interview with The Chimes.
Bush plans to visit the fire-struck region today, the third day after massive evacuations were ordered, a White House official told the Associated Press.
The U.S. military activated hundreds of reservists Tuesday and sent planes and helicopters to California to help combat the devastating fires, Assistant Defense Secretary Paul McHale said.
More than 1,500 National Guardsman were brought to active duty and placed under the command of Schwarzenegger to help in the firefighting. There are an additional 500 Marines at Camp Pendleton ready to act, McHale said.
Firefighters are beginning to get tired, however. Corey Noonan, a firefighter in northern Los Angeles County, expressed distress over the low number of fresh manpower.
“Resources are really stretched thin,” said Noonan. “People are getting tired. They get released from one fire just to go fight another one. It’s pretty hectic.”
Weather forecasters predict that the high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds could persist at least until Wednesday.
”There isn’t any (relief) in sight — the weather is complicating things for us,” San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders told a daybreak news conference.
There was better news to the north, however, where the gale force winds were dying down allowing firefighters and water-dropping aircraft to make progress in stopping two area fires from linking up into a single megablaze.
At least two people have been killed by the fire and four more died during evacuations. More than 40 people were injured, including three firefighters with critical burns.
In San Diego alone, some 400,000 reverse 911 calls were made to residents to inform them of the mandatory evacuations.
The evacuees gathered in a state of shock at the Qualcomm Stadium in downtown San Diego, at the sprawling city fairgrounds, at the Camp Pendleton Marine base and other military barracks. They also packed into hotels and motels across the region.
Officials called for donations of food, bedding and other supplies for the tens of thousands of refugees. Bush declared an emergency in the state to unleash federal funds and assets to help combat the blazes and provide relief.
He authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in the seven counties stricken by wildfires. Neighboring states, including Nevada and Arizona, also rushed in crews and equipment.
”All of us across this nation are concerned for the families who have lost their homes and the many families who have been evacuated from their homes,” Bush said at a speaking engagement in Washington on Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, the blazes had burned more than 640 square miles in the drought-stricken region by Wednesday morning, stretching from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara.
The fires also blazed to the east, where a huge wall of flames threatened the resort town of Lake Arrowhead and had burned about 125 houses.
The damage toll is expected to rise significantly with few of the major fires effectively contained and fire crews too busy to inspect the damage. About 10,000 firefighters are battling to contain the blaze.
The two worst fires occurred near Malibu, where many of Hollywood’s elite keep beach homes, and around San Diego, where more than 2,000 homes were destroyed in the 2003 Cedar Fire. Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal were among the celebrities forced to flee from the fire, their publicists said.
Fire experts fear even worse destruction from the current conflagration, after a year of record-low rainfall that helped create a bed of tinder-dry undergrowth in the region’s forests, grasslands and canyons. Satellite images showed a huge plume of smoke stretching out from Southern California over the Pacific Ocean, indicating how strong the easterly winds were gusting.
The causes of the fires are under investigation, and authorities said they were looking into downed power lines at Malibu.
“It’s kind of scary, but for whatever reason I’m just completely trusting God with it all,” said Doughlin. “It’s interesting because my parents aren’t believers, so they are just hearing me say I’m praying about it and I know God’s got it under control. It’s scary to me because they don’t have that comfort, but I know seeing it in me is showing them something. It relieves them a little that they don’t have to worry how I’d cope.”
