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November 19, 2008 Student Bonfire blamed for 1 of 3 California Wildfires
credit for article: APnews: Tayefe Mohajer
LOS ANGELES – A group of college students who lit a ridge-top bonfire is being blamed for accidentally sparking one of three ferocious wildfires that collectively destroyed about 1,000 homes and blacked more than 65 square miles. An anonymous tipster told police 10 students gathered a week ago near an abandoned home in the hills of Montecito, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said Tuesday. They built a bonfire during the night and stayed until 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday morning. By Thursday night, when winds took hold of it, the seemingly harmless blaze was on its way to destroying 210 Santa Barbara homes, including multimillion-dollar properties, authorities said. The students, aged between 18 and 22, apparently believed they had put out the fire before leaving. Fire officials said it is not uncommon for such fires to have the potential to re-ignite days later. "It appears this fire was the result of carelessness, not criminal intent," said Brown, who added that the students all lived locally and attended the same school. He declined to say which one or identify the students. Though Brown said there was no "malicious intent," the county district attorney will review the case and determine if criminal charges are filed. The fire burned intensely into the weekend, chewing up 1,900 acres and injuring more than two dozen people, including a Montecito couple who remained in critical condition Tuesday. Lance and Carla Hoffman, both 29, were severely burned while fleeing their home, which was destroyed. The Montecito blaze was the first of three to erupt in Southern California that collectively damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes. In Los Angeles County, an 11,234-acre fire in the San Fernando Valley was 85 percent contained Wednesday morning. About 50 miles to the south, the last remaining evacuation order was lifted in Orange County, where a nearly 29,000-acre complex of fires was 90 percent contained and some of the 3,760 firefighters were being sent home. The worst-hit area was the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, where 484 homes were destroyed. For a second day residents were allowed back in to salvage what they could from acres of ashes. Los Angeles County officials sent crisis counseling teams to comfort the victims. Meanwhile, lawmakers geared up to help those who lost their homes. President George W. Bush made a disaster declaration for California, freeing up federal aid to areas ravaged by the wildfires that blackened more than 65 square miles. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order waiving state fees for fire victims who need to replace destroyed birth certificates and other documents or obtain state property inspections. The order also waived a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants who lost their jobs because of the fire. The state has spent $305 million on emergency firefighting since the start of the fiscal year on July 1, $236 million more than lawmakers had allocated in their 2008-09 spending plan. That budget, which the governor signed in September, also included a $1.7 billion reserve for this fiscal year, some of which could have been used to help pay extraordinary firefighting costs.

November 17, 2008 Residents are returning back to areas ravaged by California wildfires
credit for article: Reuters - Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Shocked residents began returning home on Monday to three areas of Southern California ravaged by wildfires, some finding their houses and cars reduced to piles of smoking, melted rubble. The fires blazed on, though diminishing winds and lower temperatures helped keep them in check, and thick brown and black smoke still hung over much of the region, stinging the eyes and making breathing difficult. Weary firefighters still fought to contain fires in the foothills north of Los Angeles, in Orange County to the southeast and at the celebrity-studded enclave of Montecito near Santa Barbara. Three fires have over the past five days destroyed around 1,000 homes and blacken 55 square miles (142 sq km) across Southern California -- ranging from mobile homes to apartments and multimillion-dollar mansions. With most neighborhoods seemingly out of danger, barring a sudden shift in the hot Santa Ana winds, and the fires driven into unpopulated areas, many of the estimated 50,000 evacuees were being allowed to return home. In Sylmar, residents of a mobile home park where at least 510 homes were destroyed toured the devastation to determine what, if anything, they had left. Shuttled through the mobile home park in vans, the residents saw lot after lot where all remained were brick foundations, brick porches with twisted metal railings singed by fire and blackened metal debris. In some lots the burned-out hulks of cars sat next to charred foliage and potted plants. Only about 100 homes remained untouched and those residents were given a single red and white shopping bag to gather belongings -- typically clothes or photographs but in one case a stuffed animal. "Its amazing, its a miracle," one man told reporters on discovering that his mobile home had been spared by the flames. 'I'll MISS YOU, HOUSE' Though only 360 of the park's estimated 1,700 residents have so far come forward, authorities say they had no reason to believe anyone died. Search crews have scoured the wreckage with cadaver dogs in the last two days but found no bodies. Residents in Yorba Linda, south of Los Angeles, also spent the day picking through the charred wreckage of their homes. In one neighborhood, perched on a ridge overlooking wooded canyons, eight homes were destroyed. "It was really hard when we first got here, it was shocking," 23-year-old Brittney Fowler said of returning with her mother and stepfather to the Yorba Linda home she had lived in her entire life. Fowler recalled racing through the home two days earlier, grabbing a few pictures and other mementos as the flames marched down a hillside toward her. She remembered thinking: "I'll miss you, house."

Most Freeways CLOSED because of CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
Houses either affected, threatened, or burned are those belonging to: California Wildfire Victims & Celebrity Victims: - Rob Lowe - He evacuated it... - Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) - Burned down - Sad - Snoop Dogg (famous rapper) - He evacuated it... - Oprah Winfrey (Black Talk Show Host - African American supporter of Obama) - Getty Center Museum - Contained. Any more, please email stories...