Fires menace towns, claim first firefighter

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. — Firefighters struggled desperately Wednesday to save emptied-out resort towns in Southern California's San Bernardino Mountains as 200-foot walls of flame engulfed dead and dried-out trees.

In San Diego County, the state's largest fire claimed another victim when a firefighting crew was overcome by flames, killing one and injuring three. It marked the first firefighter death since the series of blazes began last week.

"It just swept right over them. They probably didn't have time to get out of the way," San Diego County Sheriff's Sgt. Conrad Grayson said.

The death toll later reached 20 after authorities said two people were found dead Wednesday on an Indian reservation as the result of the same San Diego County fire.

In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, the hot, dry Santa Ana winds from the desert that had been whipping the fires into raging infernos eased Wednesday. But they gave way to stiff breezes off the ocean that pushed the flames up the canyon walls around evacuated mountain enclaves like Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear — towns that are among Southern California's most popular mountain playgrounds.

By early afternoon, homes were burning in the mountain community of CedarPines Park. The flames were expected to hit the town of Running Springs after crews weren't able to set backfires along a highway to protect the town. The fires also swept over mountaintops, forcing evacuations in parts of the high desert town of Hesperia.

"There's fire on so many fronts, it's not even manageable at this point," said Chris Cade, a fire prevention technician with the U.S. Forest Service, as he watched a pillar of smoke he estimated at 9,000 feet rise into a hazy sky thick with ash. "I am at a loss what you can do about it."

The fires have burned more than 620,000 acres and destroyed 2,100 homes. More than 12,000 firefighters and support crew were fighting what Gov. Gray Davis said may be the worst and costliest disaster California has ever faced. He estimated the cost at $2 billion so far.

The fires burned in a broken arc across Southern California, from Ventura County east to Los Angeles County and the San Bernardino Mountains and south to San Diego County.

About 100 fire engines encircled the historic mining town of Julian in the mountains of eastern San Diego County, hoping to save the popular weekend getaway community renowned for its vineyards and apple orchards.