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Firefighters concede defeat until Santa Ana winds subside

Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts to an unstoppable force that has chased more than 500,000 people from their homes.

It is the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.

Fire crews said they could do little more than prevent new spot fires until the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside -- and that is not expected for at least another day.

"These winds are so strong, we're not trying to fight this fire," firefighter Jim Gelrud said. "We're just trying to save the buildings."

The tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have destroyed more than 1,300 homes, burned across nearly 1,660km2 and left one person dead.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.

"We have had an unfortunate situation that we've had three things come together: very dry areas, very hot weather and then a lot of wind," Schwarzenegger said. "And so this makes the perfect storm for a fire."

The more than a dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have injured more than 45 people, including 21 firefighters. The US Forest Service earlier reported a fire death in Los Angeles County's Santa Clarita area, but officials said on Tuesday that information was erroneous.

In San Diego County, authorities placed evacuation calls to 346,000 homes, said Luis Monteagudo, a spokesman for the county's emergency effort. Based on census and other county data, 560,000 people were ordered to leave, said Ron Roberts, chairman of the San Diego Board of Supervisors.

"The numbers we're seeing are staggering," said Luis Monteagudo, a spokesman for the county's emergency effort.

By Tuesday evening, some 50,000 people in San Diego were being allowed to return to their homes in neighborhoods where no homes were lost, Roberts said.

US President George W. Bush, who planned to visit the region on Thursday, declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts.

Weather conditions only grew worse on Tuesday, with temperatures above 32.2oC by mid-afternoon and wind gusts expected at up to 96.5kph in mountains and canyons.

The one person confirmed dead was identified as Thomas Varshock, who died over the weekend after he ignored warnings to evacuate and authorities left to take care of other evacuations, the San Diego Conty Medical Examiner's Office said.

Besides Varshock, the San Diego medical examiner's officer listed four deaths as connected to the wildfires. Three were people in their 90s who died from natural causes; the fourth was a woman who died after a fall at a restaurant.

Fighting a gusty blaze also puts the firefighters in harm's way. At least twice in the past two days, firefighters have had to unfurl their emergency fire shelters -- small fire-resistant tents to shield them when they cannot escape a fire.

"In a lot of places, you just have to back off and let the fire go," San Bernardino National Forest Ranger Kurt Winchester said. "There's nothing we can do."

In the suburbs north of San Diego, firefighters watched fingers of flame pulse across a 10-lane freeway and raced up a hill on the opposite side in just seconds.

The usual firefighting tactic is to surround a fire on two sides and try to choke it off. But with fires whipped by gusts that have surpassed 161kph, that strategy does not work because embers can be swept ahead of the fire's front line.
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