Mass evacuation — California fires: 1,800 homes burned; 500,000 flee

SAN DIEGO — Deadly, wind-whipped wildfires have triggered the largest evacuation in California's history, prompting more than 500,000 people to flee ahead of flames that destroyed more than 1,800 homes and continued Tuesday to threaten tens of thousands more.

The number of people joining the mandatory exodus — and the number of homes destroyed — was expected to grow as new fires started and others continued to burn a path toward the sea — through populated communities.

"This is the largest mass evacuation of a natural disaster in California history," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

In San Diego County, authorities placed evacuation calls to 346,000 homes, said Luis Monteagudo, a spokesman for the county's emergency effort. The county estimates, based on census tracts, that approximately 513,000 people were ordered to leave.

To the northeast, fires in the San Bernardino mountains forced the evacuation of entire communities surrounding the resort area of Lake Arrowhead.

Thousands of people, including hospital patients, were forced to flee advancing flames that leaped through the mountains, burning one home after another, destroying at least 425 and threatening as many as 10,000 more, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Gina Sampson.

In neighboring Orange County, a fire chief lashed out at state officials, saying air support, such as tankers, might have helped control fires early on, before they burned homes, if it had been available. It wasn't because so many fires struck California almost simultaneously beginning last weekend.

"There is not enough resources to go around ... because of the number of fires that are going on in our state right now," said Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather.

He said a dozen firefighters battling blazes in the Irvine and Lake Forest areas had to deploy emergency shelters, a last resort when they are surrounded by flames, or take cover in buildings.

"They should not have had to do that," he said. "If we'd had the resources earlier to take care of those lines with hand crews, we wouldn't have been in that situation."

Prather's comments came minutes before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, touring fire damage in Lake Arrowhead, promised more help, including more people and equipment.

When asked about the fire chief's critical remarks, the governor said: "I'm not aware of that."