October 2007 Archives

Video: 10/30: Residents Return Home

San Bernardino County has delivered a potted plant with a message that says “Our heartfelt support is with each of you in this difficult time” into the driveway of each house that burned in the Grass Valley area in Lake Arrowhead.
Each household was also given a bag with a mask, Kleenex and trash bags.

The following is the updated schedule for site visits and re-entry of Grass Valley in Lake Arrowhead, as well as the Running Springs area and Arrowbear.

The Slide Fire, which burned in Green Valley Lake, Running Springs, Enchanted Forest and Smiley Park, destroyed 272 homes and damaged 43, according to Adam Aleman, the county's assistant assessor.
The Grass Valley Fire, which burned primarily in Lake Arrowhead, destroyed 178 homes and damaged 22, he said.
-- George Watson

The Grass Valley and Slide fires together destroyed at least 450 houses in the San Bernardino Mountains, said Adam Aleman, a county assistant assessor.
The two blazes also damaged 65 homes, he added.
Aleman was still working on breaking down the total number of homes consumed by each fire.
-- George Watson

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that would provide tax relief to the victims of the California Wildfires. The California Wildfire Tax Relief Act of 2007 has already garnered bipartisan support and would provide special exemptions to the more than 2,000 homeowners who had their houses destroyed.
“Nothing we can do will replace the losses suffered by too many Californians this past week,” Baca said. “But we can help to make the rebuilding process as smooth as possible. Giving tax relief to those who have already suffered through so much is a good start in helping them return their lives to normal.”

The Rim Resource Network, a Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives program, is now accepting donations to assist those affected in the San Bernardino Mountain communities impacted by the Slide and Grass Valley Fires.
“Once again our residents must join together to assist those whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the two fires that ravaged the communities of Green Valley Lake, Arrowbear, Running Springs, Fredalba, Smiley Park, Twin Peaks, and Lake Arrowhead,” according to Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives Executive Director David Stuart.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has re-opened offices in San Bernardino County today after being shut down due to the wildfires. Offices re-opening here include the Redlands office at 1659 W. Lugonia Ave. and the Fontana office, 16499 Merrill Ave.
For more information, log on to www.dmv.ca.gov.

--Michael Munoz

Residents and property owners of Grass Valley can view their homes and properties and salvage belongings during an organized site visit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The mandatory evacuation order for this area will remain in effect during the visit. Those attending the site visit will have to leave the area following the visit.

In San Bernardino County, mail delivery resumes today at local Post Offices in Blue Jay 92317, Cedar Glen 92321, Crestline 92325, Lake Arrowhead 92352, Rimforest 92378, Skyforest 92385 and Twin Peaks 92391. Mail from these zip codes had previously been relocated to San Bernardino International Airport.
Mail for Running Springs and Green Valley Lake will remain at the airport for people to pick up.
Post Office officials urge residents to check their mail daily, especially for those customers who have Post Office Boxes. Accumulated mail volume is filling mail receptacles beyond capacity.
Residents experiencing damaged or destroyed homes or businesses and can no longer receive mail there should contact their local Post Office to make alternative arrangements. Mail that is undeliverable due to property damage will be held for pick-up at local Post Offices or wherever mail is available for that ZIP Code.

--Michael Munoz

The county Assessor's Office has released its third report of damaged or destroyed properties caused by the recent fires.
The report is a partial listing. More reports are forthcoming, includes addresses of damaged and destroyed properties in the community of Running Springs that have been confirmed by appraisers.
Reports Numbers One and Two are also available on the official website of the County Assessor’s Office: Assessor's Homepage.
-- George Watson

Here's an example of some of the extraordinary fire videos submitted to YouTube. This one is from Casper News Service.

With state and federal lawmakers now raising questions about where we as a society build homes, it's worth noting that The Sun investigated that very subject three years ago in a project dubbed, "Unnatural Disasters."
For those interested in perusing what the newspaper did, check out the following:

Read Unnatural Disasters here

-- George Watson

We had nearly 100 photos submitted to sbsun.com by our users, and we want to show off some of the best shots with this slideshow. To see more photos click to:

MY PHOTOS: FIRE WATCH

Per the LAKE ARROWHEAD COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT:

The Lake Arrowhead Community Services District, in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health and the San Bernardino County Health Department, has determined that water within the District's service area is safe to drink.
The water system is fully functional, pressurized, and ready for customers' use after evacuation orders are lifted. The District's water system serves Arrowhead Woods and Deer Lodge Park.
For more information call:
Water Utility contact: Bob Bernier, Water Operations Supervisor, (909) 336-7162 or Ken Nelsen, Interim General Manager, (909) 336-7102. After hours call (909) 336-7100.
California Department of Public Health – Drinking Water Field Operations Branch- District Office: (909) 383-4328.
Local Environmental Health Jurisdiction: San Bernardino County at (909) 387-4666.
-- George Watson

Most addresses of damaged or destroyed properties in Lake Arrowhead and Green Valley Lake can be found at: www.sbcounty.gov/assessor/

-Matt Wrye

We had a lot of great video shot by our videographers and photographers, but this one really demonstrates the tough fight firefighters faced during the Slide Fire. This video was produced by Eric Reed of The Sun.

Running Springs residents will have to wait until 8 a.m. tomorrow morning for the San Bernardino County office of the Assessor to release specific addresses of properties that were destroyed or damaged in the Slide Fire.
The office will release the information inside the Dome building at the National Orange Show Events Center.
Bill Postmus, county assessor, repeatedly promised on Sunday while walking around the Dome building that a list would be released by 5 p.m.
However, around mid-afternoon, county employees staffing booths inside the building said they were told the list wouldn't be complete by 5 p.m., and that Postmus had left.
Postmus couldn't be reached by cell phone from mid-afternoon to early evening.
Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman said the mountain region's terrain has made it difficult to assess people's properties.
"With the terrain and topography, a lot of these homes fell down in a (different) parcel than they were originally in," he said. "It's difficult to assess the damage."
Some areas still pose a fire danger to assessors and appraisers, Aleman said.

Most addresses of damaged or destroyed properties in Lake Arrowhead and Green Valley Lake can be found at: www.sbcounty.gov/assessor/

-Matt Wrye

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

The mandatory evacuation order for the communities of Twin Peaks, Rim Forest, Blue Jay, Agua Fria, Deer Lodge Park, Sky Forest, Cedar Glen and the majority of Lake Arrowhead will be reduced to voluntary evacuation effective 12:00 p.m. on October 28, 2007.

The area will be open to residents and re-entry passes will not be issued and are not required.

The areas that suffered extensive fire damage will remain under a mandatory evacuation area with road closures at the following locations:

•· Brentwood Drive @ Sonoma Drive

•· San Benito Drive @ Pinehurst Drive

•· Brentwood Drive @ Pinehurst Drive

•· Brentwood Drive @ Oakmont Drive

•· Brentwood Drive @ Grass Valley Drive

Other areas under a mandatory evacuation remain in effect until further notice (Running Springs, Arrow Bear and Green Valley Lake).

Residents returning to their homes should be aware of the following:

All of the affected areas suffered power outages for some period of time during the fire. Use caution before eating food in your refrigerator or freezer. Food can be spoiled due to power outages. Spoiled food must be disposed of safely and properly. Pick up a food disposal bag, mask, gloves and more information at all Fire Stations.

A light amount of smoke coming from the fire lines is to be expected. Within Lake Arrowhead, there will still be fire patrols monitoring both fire perimeters.

Please call the San Bernardino County Fire Information Line at (909) 355-8800 for updated information.

Contact: Sheriff's Public Affairs at (909) 387-3700

Download map file

(Gov. Schwarzenegger getting a tour of fire damage near Lake Arrowhead.)

SLIDE FIRE as of 11 a.m.
Total Personnel: 2,129
Size: 12,789 acres
Percent Contained: 75%
Estimated Containment Date :10/30/2007 at hrs.
Fuels Involved : Timber (grass understory)
Fire Behavior : Low intensity surface fire.
Significant Events" Made good progress containing fire spread on all flanks.

GRASS VALLEY FIRE as of 11 a.m.
Total Personnel: 563
Size: 1,140 acres
Percent Contained: 95%
Estimated Containment Date: 10/28/2007 at hrs.
Fuels Involved : Timber (grass understory)
Fire Behavior :Backing, creeping and smoldering.
Significant Events: Closure orders remain in effect for a large area surrounding the Grass Valley and Slide Fires. Effective mop up of the perimeter is on-going.

This is from the U.S. Forest Service: Mandatory evacuation for east of Crestline to Snow Valley. Voluntary evacuations in place for Crestline, Cedar Pines Park, Lake Gregory and Valley of Enchantment. Voluntary evacuation for Highland has been lifted. Evacuation Centers are located at National Orange Show in San Bernardino and the Victorville Fairgrounds in Victorville. All highways in the San Bernardino Mountains west of Big Bear Dam are closed to upbound traffic except for those with Sheriff's passes to voluntary areas. Access to Big Bear is via Hwy 38 from I-10 in Redlands or from Hwy 18 through the Hi-Desert in Lucerne Valley.

County Assessor Bill Postmus has released the first report of damage or destroyed properties caused by this past week’s firestorm.

The report, which is a partial listing as more reports are forthcoming, includes addresses of damaged and destroyed properties that have been confirmed by staff of the Office of the County Assessor.

It is available on the Web site of the County Assessor’s Office at www.sbassessor.org

For further information regarding a potential loss and other county services that may be provided, property owners are encouraged to dial “211” or call (888) 435-7565.

Listen to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekly radio address where he discusses the fires that have swept across Southern California.
LISTEN HERE

San Bernardino County officials on Saturday began releasing information to evacuees regarding whether their homes survived the Grass Valley Fire.

Information on communities affected by the Slide Fire was not yet available.

Megan Blaney, a spokeswoman for the county's Office of Emergency Services, said address-specific information is currently available for most of the Grass Valley Lake area. Additional information regarding homes in Running Springs and other mountain communities should be available soon, but officials want to very cautious about releasing data.

"The feeling of everyone in the county on this is one piece of wrong information can be so devastating," she said.

The Grass Valley Fire, which burned near Lake Arrowhead's western shore, destroyed 162 structures, Blaney said. The Slide Fire which raged near around Running Springs and Green Valley Lake, destroyed 201 structures.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office announced Saturday that the California Department of Social Services will head a grant program that will allow people who suffered losses during the past week's wildfires to obtain cash grants of up to $10,000.

The full text of the governor's announcement can be accessed by clicking on the link:

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi toured the San Bernardino Mountains Saturday after receiving a briefing on fire crews’ efforts to contain the Grass Valley and Slide fires.

Garamendi arrived at Rim of the World High School, where fire commanders have been directing the fight against the Grass Valley blaze, around 3 p.m., about the same time a light drizzle began to fall over the Lake Arrowhead area.

Standing before a large map that shows the fires’ footprint and where fire crews have established lines to block the fires’ progress, Darren Feldman, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief, outlined recent efforts against the fires.

As Feldman explained, fire crews fighting the Grass Valley fire spent Friday working in on the western edge of the fire in Miller Canyon, the toughest country where that blaze is burning.

Feldman also said firefighters must still build 8 to 10 miles of fire line along the western end of the Slide Fire to contain that blaze.

Three fire chiefs, Mike Dietrich of the San Bernardino National Forest, Tom O’Keefe of the CDF’s San Bernardino unit and Pat Dennen of the county fire department conversed with the lieutenant governor at the briefing, where officials also discussed previous and potential fire prevention efforts.

Dietrich told Garamendi he was confident that tree removal work in the aftermath of the 2003 fires – the one-millionth tree that was felled as part of those efforts was cut down earlier this year – reduced the amount of fuels that available to the fire and consequently prevented the past week’s fires from being even more intense.

“My feeling out of driving in the area is the loss (of homes) would have been in the 3,000 range rather than the 300 range,” he said.

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA
AP National Writer
SAN DIEGO — They know what the winds can do. They forecast them. Fight the fires the winds fan. Prepare for
evacuations that, in years past, never came. They thought they knew, until seven days of fury began a week ago.

From almost the beginning, this Santa Ana was different somehow.

Meteorologist Philip Gonsalves recognized it when he saw the smoke through the picture windows of the National Weather Service station in Rancho Bernardo closing in on the office itself. He had helped forecast the tempest: an ominous combination of strong gusts, low humidity and soaring temperatures. In weather speak: red flag fire conditions.

Fire Battalion Chief Tom Zeulner understood it, too, when en route to his first blaze of the week, his wife called to tell him five more fires had begun.

Dan Crane thought it was “situation normal,” his words for the Santa Ana fire season that torments Californians every October through February, when blustery winds blow out of the desert. He’s lived through a half-century of them, and never once had to evacuate — not even during the two-week onslaught of 2003, when fires burned 750,000 acres and killed 22
people.

The forecast for Running Springs:

Saturday: 20 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Cloudy skies with a high of 61 degrees. South wind blowing at 5 mph.

Saturday night: Cloudy with a low of 49 degrees. West wind blowing at 5 mph.

Sunday: Sunny with a high of 64 degrees. West wind blowing between 5 and 10 mph.

Firefighters extinguished a fire today that destoyed a home on on Carlock Drive in Arrowbear.
The cause of the fire is not believed to be related to the Slide Fire, said Tracey Martinez, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
The house fire was fully involved when fire crews arrived, she said. A county Sheriff's Department helicopter assisted them.
No one was injured. The house was a total loss, she said.
"They attacked it pretty quickly so they kept it from getting into the vegetation and any other houses," she said.
The cause is under investigation.
-- George Watson

The following report is taken from an interview that a Sun reporter conducted Wednesday with a couple whose Grass Valley Lake home survived Monday's fire. Theis part of the story wasn't included here in the newspaper, and is instead presented as part of The Sun's online coverage of Grass Valley and Slide fires.

Two people whose home survived Monday’s firestorm are Elliott Gotfredson, 33, and Kimberly Trzcinski, 38, who share a house on Black Oaks Drive that stands next a house that was destroyed.

Gotfredson and Trzcinski didn’t know the house that they rent was spared until Tuesday morning, they said. Monday morning, when the power went out, they got ready for work by the glow of candle and flashlight and saw fire trucks rolling towards Grass Valley Lake as they headed down the mountain on their morning commute but didn’t realize there was a fire burning until they drove down to their jobs with the San Bernardino Unified School District.

The pair returned home around 8;15 a.m. Monday, Gotfredson said, just before the roads leading to their home were closed off. He said they had about five minutes to grab photo albums and other belongings
before California Highway Patrol officers required them to evacuate.

By that time, Gotfredson said, the air was so choked with ashes that he could barely see 25 feet in front of his face.

“It (visibility), was next to nothing. We could barely see the car and the wind was howling,” he said.

The couple spent the Monday night watching the fire burn on television, not able to discern from TV news if their home was among the lost.

Tuesday, they drove home past house after burned house, not expecting to find their home still standing.

“We thought ours was down too, but all of a sudden, we saw our house here,” Trzcinski said.

-Andrew Edwards

The Grass Valley Fire is 85 percent contained, said spokeswoman Ramona DeGeorgio-Venegas.
If the weather holds, fire officials believe they will have full containment by Sunday night, she added.
But she doesn't expect evacuated residents to be allowed back anytime soon.
"There is still a huge amount of power lines and infrastructure that needs to be repaired before people can go back up," DeGeorgio-Venegas said.
The wildfire has burned 1,140 acres, destroyed 162 homes, damaged 20 and still threatens 6,000 more. Total cost of the fire is $3.65 million.
She drove around the area last night. In addition to the downed power lines, giant holes that were homes to trees still smolder, sometimes as deep as six-feet in the ground, she said.
"It's going to take a while before all of those hot spots are safe enough to let people in to work on the infrastructure," she explained. "People are chomping at the bit to go in and do their job but we can't let them in there until it's safe."
The Slide Fire is 35 percent contained, having burned 13,800 acres. It's cost $4.5 million to fight this fire.
"That's the one that is putting up all the smoke," DeGeorgio-Venegas said.
More than 10,000 homes are still threatened, she said.
The blaze destroyed 201 homes and three outbuildings.
-- George Watson

As reported earlier, the evacuees who attended a mass briefing at the National Orange Show Events Center Friday night didn't get an answer to their most pressing question - whether or not their home survived.

"We want answers. Is my house there?," said Lori Bright, who lives in Running Springs.

Although Bright will have to wait to learn the answer to that question, she accepted County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer's explanation that the Slide Fire, which still threatens the Running Springs area, has presented too much of a danger for assessment teams to get into neighborhoods and complete a list of which homes burned and which ones remain.

Green Valley Lake resident Brenda Bell had a similar take on the meeting.

"They (evacuees) got what they could get. I think most people came to get the list," she said. "I'm frustrated but not angry."

Bright. Bell and others in the crowd of a few hundred or so did get a pretty comprehensive update on the latest news from the fire lines from high-level San Bernardino County officials and U.S. Forest Service fire commanders.

As of Friday night, the Grass Valley Fire, which is burning northwest of Lake Arrowhead in the Miller Canyon drainage, is 70 percent contained after burning 1,100 acres. Grass Valley incident commander Bill Kaage said after he delivered his remarks that firefighters are closing a box around the fire.

The Slide Fire is 20 percent contained and has burned 13,700 acres near Running Springs.

Remarks at Friday's briefing were translated for audience members by a Spanish-speaking interpretor and another interpreter who communicated in sign language. Dan Kleinman, the deputy incident commander on the Slide Fire team, scored a few laughs among evacuees with a few comedic asides to the man who repeated his words in Spanish.

"You're doing OK," Kleinman said to the interpreter after the man translated a long stretch of words. "You ought to hear how much I normally talk."

The audience later responded with applause when Kleinman said crews are expected to establish a solid line to block flames on the western side of the fire by Saturday morning.

But Kleinman did not want the audience to think the battle against the Slide Fire has already been won.

"I'm not trying to build your hopes up at all," he said. "There's a lot of potential there."

Sheriff's Capt. Joe Catalano, who commands the sheriff's Twin Peaks station, told audience members that law enforcement officers are working 12-hour shifts to patrol evacuated communities and that any time, 120 people with guns and badges are on duty near the fire zones.

Catalano said about 50 people have been arrested inside the evacuation zones since Monday, including two people who were busted Friday on suspicion of breaking into a home.

"If we catch anybody doing anything wrong, they're going to jail," Catalano said.

Catalano said it's not yet known when it will be safe for people living near Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs to return home.

Denise Benson, division manager of San Bernardino County's Office of Emergency Services said, as did Uffer, that assessment teams are still gathering information on which homes survived the fires and which ones were lost. Benson and Uffer said they hope to release that information to evacuees soon.

"We'll have maps you can look at," Benson said. "We want to do this in a way that supports your dignity."

-Andrew Edwards

People affected by Southern California wildfires are encouraged to thoroughly document property losses as they return to homes that may be damaged or destroyed, according to a news release published today by the IRS.
The tax-collecting organization will provide more information on disaster relief and casualty loss next week.

For now, residents affected by the fires should compile the following:

* Before-and-after photographs
* Good records of expenses incurred while cleaning up (Note: damaged landscaping can be included while calculating casualty loss)
* A drawn-up floor plan of furnishings in the house
* A list of valued assets, with pictures and sales receipts

Also, those affected are encouraged to consider an appraisal for applicable damaged property.

More information on disaster relief is available at www.irs.gov.

At 7 pm, Friday night, the California Speedway will hold a movie night for the families displaced by the region’s wildfires and relocated to the National Orange Show Events Center. The Speedway will bring in a mobile theater unit, a free popcorn stand and movies.
During the day, the Speedway will also bring in several interactive displays, including a NASCAR show car, a giant race car slide and an inflatable obstacle course to entertain the hundreds of children currently at the center.
--Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Several evacuees assembled at the National Orange Show Events Center around 7 p.m. Friday to get a status report on the fires.
County administrative officer Mark Uffer told the crowd that assessment teams were working in the area to determine how many houses had been spared.
“We have teams working literally every hour of the day to get into the fire areas and find out which properties were destroyed, damaged or remain intact.
“One of the things that is very scary for teams is....they are actually being chased out by spot fires,” he said.
Uffer acknowledged at Friday’s community’s meeting that many in the crowd would be disappointed at the lack of specific information of which homes had survived.
He asked those at the meeting to remain confident in the county fire department and other county staffers. He said hopefully information would be released in the next few days with data that is 100 percent accurate.
--Andrew Edwards

Contrary to previous reports, county officials won't be releasing information on damaged and destroyed properties tonight at an informational briefing.
At 7 p.m., evacuees are invited to attend meetings at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and Victorville Fairgrounds for information about the evacuated mountain areas and the progress firefighters have made.
Certain fires and hot spots in various mountain areas have endangered assessment teams, according to a press release from the county's Incident Management Team.
"Because of the ongoing fire, the county wasn't able to get any data from a lot of areas and wasn't able to verify information from other areas," said county spokesman David Wert by phone. "We probably won't be able to do it until the fires are completely under control. It's a matter of safety to the crews doing the assessments."
Properties initially recorded as undamaged by assessment crews could be damaged by the time crews start assessing again.
The meetings will also provide the latest information on "re-entry plans and schedules, as well as resources available to assist displaced homeowners," the release states.
Evacuees can also get information by calling 211.
--Matt Wrye

The South Coast Air Quality Management District is warning fire victims to look out for asbestos in the debris of burned houses.
Home and building built before 1984 may contain asbestos materials, according to a statement from the district.
If asbestos is suspected a certified asbestos consultant can conduct a survey to identify any asbestos containing materials. Residents should hire a licensed asbestos abatement contractor if asbestos is known to be present in debris.
For more information call the district's asbestos hotline at (909) 396-2336.

U.S. Bank - a national bank chain - is offering a special relief package to California customers in areas ravaged by wildfires.
The package includes flexability in terms of credit card and loan payments, an emergency small business loan up to $25,000 and special assistance to mortagage customers who have suffered a loss.
U.S. Bank will also waive the fees for non-U.S. Bank customers who need to use one of their ATMs in fire affected areas now through Nov. 16.

A special Fire Victims Relief Fund has been established in the Inland Empire that will aid fire victims in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The announcement was made Friday during a press conference outside City Hall.
The Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties will be in charge of distributing the fund.
“I want to assure you all of the funds will go to fire victims of our two counties,” said Jim Erickson, president and CEO of the foundation. “There will be no administrative fees.”
The foundation has set up a special ad-hoc committee composed of local charity leaders who will decide how the fund will be dispersed, said Erickson.
The committee is expected to meet next week to decide how the money will be spent.
“There’s a sense of urgency ... ” said Michael Tracey, vice president of development for the foundation. “The decision will come quickly but we’re also going to have to raise funds quickly.”
The foundation will be accepting donations from anyone interested in contributing to the fund.
For donation information call (951) 684-4194.

The following organizations have made donations or have committed to make donations to the Fire Victims Relief Fund:
— San Manuel Band of Mission Indians: $100,000
— Stater Bros. Markets: $20,000
— Arrowhead Credit Union: $20,000
— Altura Credit Union (Riverside County): $20,000
— American Collective Counseling Services: $20,000
— City of Riverside: $20,000
— County of Riverside: $20,000
— City of San Bernardino: $20,000
— Matich Corporation: $10,000
— SE Corporation: $5,000
— JJC Project Management: $4,000
— Supervisor Dennis Hansberger has said San Bernardino County will make a donation similar to Riverside County, according to Mayor Pat Morris.

The Rim Resource Network, a Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives program, is currently accepting donations to assist mountain community residents affected by the Slide and Grass Valley Fires. The group is working closely with Supervisor Dennis Hansberger and his staff to assist residents in the recovery efforts.
Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives, was created after the 2003 Old Fire. The group was responsible for coordinating needs and resources and providing valuable information for those residents affected by the disaster.
David Stuart, executive director of RMHL, urges resdients to send tax-deductible cash donations to: Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Lives, P.O. Box 4644, Blue Jay, CA 92317.
Person wishing to donate non-cash items (new clothing, housing opportunities, volunteer labor, rebuilding materials, etc.) may send a letter to RHML at the same address or email RHML at donations@rimresourcenetwork.org.
For additional information, please log on to www.rimresourcenetwork.org
--Michael Munoz

Here is the work of The Sun photographer Brett Snow from Day 2 of the fires in the San Bernardino Mountains...

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, says he's working to get President George Bush to authorize a special designation for food stamps.
The designation would allow all fire evacuees regardless of financial status to be eligible for food stamps.
The Congressman is also leading an effort to create a disaster food stamps center in the county, much like one that has been opened in San Bernardino, said Baca spokesman Sam Garcia.
Baca is expected to announce more details of the plan Sunday in San Bernardino, following a helicopter tour of the burned areas. Undersecretary of Agriculture Nancy Johner will join him on the tour. They will meet after with San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and other city and council officials, Garcia said.

UPLAND — Sycamore Elementary school along with the Upland-Foothill Kiwanis Club donated more than 500 books today to children who were temporarily housed at the Orange Show in San Bernardino because of the mountain wildfires.
“Rather than impersonally writing a check, we wanted to make an individual difference in these kids lives,” said Mary Ann Payne, Kiwanis communications director.
Marcia Lovelady, a teacher at Sycamore, came up with the idea and teamed up with her husband Phil, a member of the Kiwanis Club to coordinate the donation.
Payne said the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Montclair helped by donating and discounting books to the cause.
“A book opens these kids’ imagination and gets them to escape the time they’re experiencing now,” Payne said.
Sycamore Elementary will continue to accept books through Wednesday.
Those that want to donate can drop off books at 1075 W. 13th St., Upland.
Information: (909) 982-0347.

-- Canan Tasci

The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) is urging local communities to take precautions and avoid any unnecessary outdoor activities in smoke impacted areas from the Slide and Grass Valley Fires today.
Air quality Index levels above 100, (unhealthy for sensitive groups,) with some periods exceeding 150 (deemed unhealthy for all individuals) are forecasted.

Per the county's Office of Emergency Services:
An informational meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at the National Orange Show and Victorville Fairgrounds evacuation centers to brief residents of the evacuated areas on the progress of firefighting efforts and display maps of properties damaged or destroyed by the fires.
The meeting is intended only for people who have been evacuated from the fire areas.

A relief effort for San Bernardino County fire victims has been set up by St. Vincent De Paul
Society, a nonprofit organization connected with Catholic churches throughout the county.
Those who wish to donate items or money can call 1-800-716-0646, or send donations to P.O. Box 8192, Alta Loma 91701. Fire victims can call also the same number.
"They'll get a response within 24 hours," said Linda Hahn, who's on the society's local council.
The nonprofit is looking for a wide array of items, including toasters, dishes, pots, pans, washers,
dryers, refrigerators, she said. People sending money should send a check, even though cash will be accepted, Hahn said. A donation bank account will soon be set up.
But Hahn also warned of a "scam" taking place. A friend notified her that people have been falsely collecting donations under the the name of the St. Vincent De Paul Society at the Vons supermarket on Carnelian and 19th Street in Rancho Cucamonga.
However, the society is only accepting donations through its member churches and mailed or
in-person donations.

--Matt Wrye

Meetings for fire evacuees on the progress of firefighting efforts are scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and Victorville Fairgrounds evacuation centers, according to the website, Rimoftheworld.net.
Evacuated mountain residents will be able to see maps of homes damaged or destroyed by the blazes.
Officials also plan to discuss re-entry plans and schedules, as well as resources for displaced homeowners.
Residents not attending the meeting may obtain information on their properties by calling the 211 assistance line at 7 p.m. or later. People calling from outside the county may access the 211 line at (888) 435-7565.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has re-opened three offices in San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange Counties today, Oct. 26 after being closed due to the wildfires.
The San Bernardino office at 1310 N. Waterman Ave. has re-opened, as well as, the Oxnard and San Clemente Field Offices. The Rancho Cucamonga Field Office, at 8678 Archibald Ave., remains open.
However, the Redlands and Fontana offices remain closed through Friday due to the smoke and poor air quality in the area.
For more information, log on to www.dmv.ca.gov.
--Michael Munoz

A town-hall meeting is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. At the San Moritz Lodge in Crestline to discuss the wildfires.
Representatives from Crest Forest Fire Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff, Crestline Chamber of Commerce and other agencies will be present.
The address to San Moritz Lodge is 24640 San Mortiz Drive next to Lake Gregory in Crestline.
For more information, call the Crestline Chamber of Commerce at 909-338-2706. The Chamber's website is www.crestline.net.

--Michael Munoz

Sprint Nextel is helping victims of the wildfires, stay connected with love ones who are trying to get in contact with them.
Various services are being made available to evacuees at The National Orange Show Fair Grounds in San Bernardino. Residents can obtain free cell phone chargers; Sprint support staff are on site to charge phones, assist with free calls and provide wireless high-spreed Internet access and calling cards. Also, Sprint retail stores in San Bernardino and Redlands areas, customers can receive a 50 percent discount on wall chargers, car chargers and batteries this week and also can place free phone calls at these stores.
To further support those affected by wildfires, Sprint Nextel is donating $50,000 to the Red Cross. Sprint Nextel has also prepared its Sprint Nextel Emergency Response Team (ERT) to provide critical communications and personnel to assist fire responders with relief efforts. The ERT's Rapid Deployment Services can deploy additional Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTS,) to help facilitate communications among relief and response agencies. ERT staff members are pre-staged to assist in disaster response efforts.

--Michael Munoz

At noon, firefighters across the mountaintop stopped for a moment of silence in honor of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters who perished in the Esperanza Fire in the San Jacinto Mountains one year ago today.

The crew of Engine 57 was caught in a burnover while defending a home on Gorgonio View Drive. Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild; Jason McKay, 27, of Apple Valley; Jess McLean, 27, of Beaumont; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto died while standing their ground in front of the house. Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley died Oct. 31, 2006 after he was taken off life support.

Firefighters and personnel stood in hallways at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead and elsewhere, silently reflecting.

"Thank you, and always remember Oct. 26, 2006," a voice said over an intercom following the moment of silence.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 12:24 p.m.

At noon, firefighters across the mountaintop stopped for a moment of silence in honor of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters who perished in the Esperanza Fire in the San Jacinto Mountains one year ago today.

The crew of Engine 57 was caught in a burnover while defending a home on Gorgonio View Drive. Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild; Jason McKay, 27, of Apple Valley; Jess McLean, 27, of Beaumont; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto died while standing their ground in front of the house. Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley died Oct. 31, 2006 after he was taken off life support.

Firefighters and personnel stood in hallways at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead and elsewhere, silently reflecting.

"Thank you, and always remember Oct. 26, 2006," a voice said over an intercom following the moment of silence.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 12:24 p.m.

Starting today, all residents and businesses in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties will receive mail mail delivery, either from their letter carrier in their Post Office Box or at temporary Post Offices established for evacuated communities.
Express Mail, Priority Mail and First-Class Mail will be delivered in its normal fashion. Customers are requested to pick up their mail daily, including from their Post Office Boxes, as large volumes of mail accumulate.
Mail will still be made available to San Bernardino mountain resident communities at San Bernardino International Airport, the former Norton Air Force Base, until further notice.
Residents who experienced damaged or destroyed homes or businesses and can no longer receive mail there should contact their local Post Office to make arragements. Mail that is undeliverable due to property damage will be held for pick-up at local Post Offices or wherever mail is available for that ZIP code.
Residents can contact USPS District consumer affairs at (858) 674-2670 for local information with issues resulting from fire-related mail delays or damage. Consumer affairs will maintain extended hours to assist postal customers Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. To 6 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. To 4 p.m,; and Sunday, 10 a.m. To 3 p.m.
Consumer affairs is located at 11251 Rancho Carmel Drive, San Diego, CA at entrance #3.
--Mike Munoz

Fire officials read off the names of the five firefighters killed in the October 2006 Esperanza Fire during a roll call that was broadcast over an emergency radio channel at noon today. The roll call was held to recognize the one-year anniversary of when the firefighters were overrun by flames in the Riverside County blaze.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors accepted a $9,000 grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection this week, which will be used to provide funding to some mountain communities for to better organize, train and equip 10 local fire protection agencies.
The funding will be used to purchase upgraded Bendix King Mobile Radios for the rural districts with the most need for the equipment, including the Forest Falls Fire Protection District Station 128, Angelus Oaks Station 15, and Fawnskin Station 49. The narrowband compatible-radios are critical to coordinate and battle wildfires, according to Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger.
--Selicia Kennedy-Ross

HIGHLAND - Arson continues to be heavy on the minds of residents and police.
A man in his 20s spotted walking near an am-pm mini market this morning with a gas can and a fireplace lighter was detained by sheriff's deputies.
Someone called the Sheriff's Department at 9:25 a.m., reporting a suspicious person. A deputy came to the scene on Base Line Road near Boulder Avenue, detained the man and then requested a member of the sheriff's arson and bomb squad respond to the location as well, said sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers.
The man has not been arrested.
"Because of the situation that we're experiencing right now with the fires, I think people are just so alert and aware of what's happening," Beavers said.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Throngs of people arrived at Wildwood Park in San Bernardino this morning to get their emergency resident reentry cards after mandatory evacuations were lifted today in the communities of Crestline, Cedar Pines Park and Valley of Enchantment.

"We just want to go home so bad. I want to sleep in my own bed," said Crestline resident Colleen Syfers, standing in line this morning with her young daughter Abby, her mother Kathy Syfers and their beloved dog Fox, a Chow/Dingo mix.

The Syfers family has been staying in motels since Monday when they were forced from their Crestview Lane home, where they have lived the last 21 years.

"Me and my daughter are still in our pajamas," said Colleen Syfers, 43, adding that she and other residents in the communities of Crestline, Valley of Enchantment and Cedar Pines Park were the "lucky ones" who still have a home to go to.

Living in motels the last five days and worrying about whether wildfire would destroy their home was almost too much to bare, giving Syfers a new appreciation for what she has.

"I seriously know how it feels to be homeless now, and I'm grateful for everything we have," she said.

Carolyn Brooks stood in line that spanned the length of the parking lot at the park with her two sons, Colin, 5, and Connor, 6. She too evacuated from her her home in Dart Canyon on Monday.

"I left the day it started because I have four horses and had to get them down the hill," said Brroks, 30, a Dart Canyon resident of 2 1/2 years. Along with her sons and horses, she also had to bring along her six dogs, one of which gave birth to a litter of 11 puppies on Thursday.

"They're in a box in the car right now," Brooks said. She said she and her family stayed with her inlaws in Devore during the mandatory evacautions.

"This is our first evacuation, but we're always aware of the risks," Brooks said.

Just two weeks ago, a fire break of more than 150 feet was cut around the perimeter of Dart Canyon, Brooks said.

"I'm so grateful. It couldn'td have been better timing," she said.

The $2.7 million Grass Fire is 70 percent contained, with full containment expected Sunday. It has burned 1,100 acres, destroyed about 100 homes and threatens 6,000 more. The Slide Fire in Running Springs and Green Valley Lake is 16 percent contained, with no estimated time for full containment. It has destroyed about 200 homes, burned 13,378 acres and has cost $3.2 million in resources and suppression efforts.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 12:08 p.m.

James C. McGuire, acting presiding judge of San Bernardino County Superior Court, has announced that the following court facilities have reopened Friday.

303 West Third Street, San Bernardino – civil and small claims, unlawful detainer (evictions),
landlord/tenant, Court Executive Office, Legal Research
351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino – criminal, family law, Family
and Children's Services division and traffic
900 East Gilbert Street, San Bernardino – juvenile delinquency
860 East Gilbert Street, San Bernardino – juvenile dependency
790 South Gifford Street, San Bernardino – court records center
175 West Fifth Street, San Bernardino – juvenile traffic and minor offenses
515 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino – compliance and fiscal
consolidation
172 West Third Street, San Bernardino – jury administration, human
resources, financial services
401 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino - appeals and appellate

The above court facilities were ordered to close down on Wednesday because of the Grass Valley and Slide fires.

-Andrew Edwards

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today released the following statement in remembrance of five United States Forest Service firefighters who died from injuries sustained one year ago while battling the Esperanza Fire in Riverside County:
"Today Californians solemnly pay tribute to five true heroes who died from injuries sustained one year ago today in the line of duty. With nearly 14,000 firefighters still battling the fires in southern California, we are reminded of the great risk that is assumed by these courageous public servants and their families. Maria and I extend our deepest appreciation and sincere gratitude to all of the brave firefighters who commit their lives every day to protecting the safety of our citizens and our state. Our hearts are with the families of the fallen firefighters as all Californians honor this tragic one year anniversary."
Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto; Jason McKay, 27, of Apple Valley; and, Jess McLean, 27, of Beaumont; died Oct. 26, 2006, from injuries sustained while battling the Esperanza Fire in Riverside County. Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley, died Oct. 31, 2006, as a result of injuries sustained Oct. 26, 2006, in the same incident.
In honor of these fallen heroes, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
-- George Watson

Schools in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, childcare centers, the adult school and school activities are expected to resume Monday.
The district closed for four days due to fire hazards and heavy smoke through the area.
District officials said the Y Academy, before and after school programs, athletic events and extra curricular activities would also resume Monday.
All classes and activities will also resume Monday for the Colton Joint Unified and Redlands Unified school districts, according to the districts' websites.
Rim of the World Unified School District schools are closed until further notice, the district's website said.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The following is an e-mail from County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer to the five members of the Board of Supervisors, their chiefs of staff, county emergency services officials and the Assessor's Office, regarding the release of information about wildfire damage to homes in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Hopefully, this clears up what has become a confusing situation.
Uffer's e-mail reads:
"The County Administrative office under the direction of the Board of Supervisors has directed the County Fire Department Office of Emergency Services, Emergency Operations Center, to manage the process of releasing property damage and loss information in the manner that has been customary to the organization.
In an effort to provide the necessary support services to those residents suffering catastrophic losses no information is to be posted online, as this will potentially undermine the residents use of the Local Assistance Center being operated by the County in conjunction with FEMA.
As has been customary, the organization attempts to deliver this very sensitive information in person so as to provide the necessary grief counseling and support services to those affected."
-- George Watson

The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters will be providing emergency voting assistance for the November 6th Consolidated Election for San Bernardino mountain community residents that have been displaced by the current fire situation.
Emergency voting services are located in the Fire Emergency Local Assistance Center at the National Orange Show Events Center Dome, 689 S. “E” Street, San Bernardino. Registrar of Voters staff will be on hand from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday and 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday to assist with voting or registration concerns.
In addition, anyone registered to vote in the county can cast a ballot between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm daily at the Registrar of Voters office, 777 E. Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino.
-- George Watson

The mandatory evacuation for Crestline was lifted this morning, allowing residents of the Valley of Enchantment, Cedar Pines Park and Crestline to return to their homes, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Checkpoints have been designated for re-entry at Wildwood Park, at 40th and Waterman, and Hwy 138 at the Cottonwood Ranger Station (just south of Lake Silverwood).

The checkpoints will open at 9 a.m. through midnight today and Saturday. They will not be open Sunday.

Residents must park cars in the designated area and walk to the checkpoint to speak to a law enforcement representative at the information table. Residents must provide proof of residency to obtain a re-entry pass.

Residents who do not obtain a pass today or Saturday will have to wait until Monday to obtain a pass at the Sheriff’s Department, 655 E. Third St. during routine business hours.

No passes will be issued Sunday.

-- Joe Blackstock

One house was damaged in the Running Springs area overnight as firefighters continue to battle
the Slide Fire, the most active of Southern California wildfires.

Forest Service spokesman Tom Efird said this morning the blaze that has burned nearly
12,000 acres in the San Bernardino Mountains is least con tained on its northwest flank, as
on-shore winds have replaced the Santa Anas that have plagued the area earlier this
week. It remains only about 15 to 20 percent contained.

"There was due progress last night as we improved the containment lines on the southeast
flank of the fire," said Efird this morning. "The most active part is the northwest flank where we still have no containment lines so far."

More than 1,350 firefighters are assigned to the Slide fire, which has become the No. 1 priority of all the Southern California fires. More than 200 homes have burned in that fire.

Authorities declared the 1,100-acre Grass Valley Fire 70 percent contained Thursday night

Conditions in the mountains this morning are clear skies with winds from the southwest, though a switch
back to the northeast in terms of winds is expected by Sunday or Monday. Efird said it will
mean warmer weather but the wind is not expected to have the velocity it had early this week.

-- Joe Blackstock

SAN DIEGO — The football stadium where thousands of displaced residents sought
refuge is closing as an evacuation center, symbolic progress against wildfires menacing
Southern California. Once sheltering more than 10,000 people, Qualcomm Stadium was home
to just 350 this morning. It was to close later in the day

Authorities declared the 1,100-acre Grass Valley Fire 70 percent contained Thursday night, but the more problematic Slide Fire held at 15 percent containment, with full containment not anticipated any time soon.

"We won't have containment on that one for awhile," U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller said from Rim of the World High School late Thursday night.

Since the fires erupted Sunday and Monday, firefighters have been focusing on protecting homes and businesses. Now that the Santa Ana winds have died down, firefighters are placing more emphasis on getting a line around the fires and holding them.

But winds can shift at any time, and flare-ups are a reality.

"Having Santa Anas come up can pose some new challenges," Miller said.

More than 100 homes have been destroyed in the Grass Valley Fire in Lake Arrowhead, and 6,000 more remain threatened. Two helicopters, 23 hand crews and 780 firefighters fought the blaze and worked on cutting line Thursday.

The 11,625-acre Slide Fire burning in Green Valley Lake and in Running Springs is 15 percent contained, with 1,359 firefighters working the fire. More than 200 homes have been destroyed in the blaze and 10,000 remain threatened.

The overnight action plan for the Grass Valley Fire late Thursday and Friday morning called for firefighters to hold the eastern flank at its present location, keep it south of Pilot Peak Road and east of Miller
Canyon. For the Slide Fire, the objectives call for keeping the fire south of Crab Flats Road, north of City Creek Road, west of Highway 18 and east of Sheep Creek and the east fork of City Creek.

Operational objectives for both fires were to contain the Grass Valley Fire and to protect structures in Running Springs and Green Valley Lake.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 11:12 p.m.

When the Old Fire burned near Running Springs in 2003, Gary and Susa Keddy did what was recommended: They evacuated their homes and motel, the Giant Oaks Lodge on Hilltop Boulevard, otherwise known as Highway 18.

This time, however, they opted to stay put and tough the Slide Fire out. The blaze burned to the edge of the highway about 10 a.m. Thursday, directly across the street from the motel the couple has owned and operated the last 17 years.

"We have a good exit strategy: Hit Highway 16 and get out of here," said Susa Keddy Thursday night from the porch of the lodge, in the 32000 block of Hilltop Boulevard.

Fire engines lined the highway in front of their motel about 10 a.m. Thursday as the fire advanced through the canyon and up the mountainside.

"We had a whole line in here and the hot shots in here," said Gary Keddy, walking through the burned area across the highway from his motel and pointing with a flashlight to the firehose that lay on the ground marking the perimeter of the burn area just a couple of yards from the highway.

"Obviously, they think the fire might come back because their hoses are still here," he said. He said he and his wife felt pretty secure, despite the fire coming just yards from their business and home. "They were probably here in their truck until 4 o'clock this afternoon. They had hand tools and saws, and were in here digging line. They were incredible."

Within minutes, the firefighters were lined up and were cutting line and dousing the blaze with water, increasing the Keddy's comfort level considerably.

"They were right on target. They knew exactly where to go and what to do," Keddy said. "The coordination they have is just awesome."

He said he and his wife opted not to evacuate this time because they had no place to go and were concerned about their home and business.

"It's more than a home, it's our whole livelihood," Keddy said.

Meanwhile, firefighters stayed busy Thursday night following an overnight action plan that called for mopping up around the burned homes and digging fire line.

The progression of the fire moved through Running Springs toward the Snow Valley ski resport, where a base camp was set up for firefighters. Heavy smoke obscured visibility between Arrowbear and Snow Valley, and small spot fires resembling campfires dotted the mountainsides.

"The fire backed down to this area yesterday, and we're going to make sure no snags come down and hit the road and watch for flare-ups," said U.S. Forest Service Capt. Karen Morse of the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 10:26 p.m.

It turns out that the San Bernardino County Assessors office will not be posting on their Web site a list of homes destroyed in the fires.

Assessor Bill Postmus called the Sun to say that the lists will be released tomorrow. He wants to be able to contact as many victims as possible first.

"We have to be sensitive to these people who have lost their homes," Postmus said. He added that it could only increase their trauma to learn of their loss via a Web site.

-- George Watson

The Slide Fire is now 15 percent contained while the Grass Valley Fire was listed at 70 percent contained.

The Slide fire has burned 11,675 and destroyed an estimated 200 homes. Fire officials did not have a date for full containment as of late Thursday. The Grass Valley Fire has destoyed more than 100 homes and scorched 1,100 acres and is expected to be fully contained by Sunday, Oct. 28.

-- Gina Tenorio

Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman now says his office will be releasing a list of damaged or destroyed homes in Grass Valley Lake after all.
Other areas have not yet been compiled, he said.
The list will be posted on the Assessor's Web site sometime late tonight or early Friday morning.
The Web site is www.sbassessor.org.
Other county officials have wanted to wait so they could release the information at evacuation centers. One reason, said spokesman David Wert, is because the county wants to have grief counselors there for the evacuees who learn their home is gone.
Wert said the county hopes to release the information Friday. But he said he could make no promises because no one wanted to make a mistake and tell people their home was gone when it wasn't, or vice versa.
-- George Watson

The fire chief from Gulfport, Miss., and a small crew of firefighters are expected to arrive tonight.
During the Katrina disaster, San Bernardino County made great efforts to help Gulfport. A large contingent flew there, bringing goods and other help.
As another way of saying thank you, Gulfport sent a crew here to see how they can help.
-- George Watson

U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell stood on Modoc Lane, among the charred ruins of hundreds of homes near Lake Arrowhead's Country Club Villas, Thursday afternoon, praising efforts of firefighters in their battles to contain the Grass Valley and Slide fires that since Sunday have claimed hundreds of homes.

She said the thousands of acres of tinder-dry vegetation cleared since 2003 by firefighters and residents in the San Bernardino Mountains drastically reduced the damage, which could have been worse, and that favorable weather conditions has enabled firefightters to get an upper hand on the fires.

"The progress made on the fires today has been significant, and we hope to close some of the (fire) perimeters tomorrow," Kimbell said.

The Slide Fire was 15 percent contained Thursday, and the Grass Valley Fire was declared 50 percent contained, said Mike Dietrich, U.S. Forest Service chief in charge of the San Bernardino National Forest.

He believes firefighters have seen the worst of the fire behavior, and things should only get better from here.

"I'm hoping the structure threat is gone. I'm pretty sure it is," Dietrich said.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com 7:55 p.m.

The county Assessor's Office will not be releasing information today on destroyed or damaged houses to homeowners eager to learn whether they still have one.
On Wednesday night, the Assessor's Office issued a press release stating that appraisers were heading into the burned areas this morning.
Later in the day, the Assessor's Office's release stated, lists of lost homes would be posted at the evacuation centers in San Bernardino and in Victorville.
Appraisers did go out to the burned areas today, but the release of information to homeowners won't be happening today after all.
"The county has indicated that they want to have control over the release of data," said Jim Erwin, a county assistant assessor.
It's not known when, or how, homeowners will be able to learn the status of their mountain homes.
-- George Watson

VICTORVILLE — A man suspected of starting a fire off Highway 173 in Summit Valley - while major wildfires raged in the San Bernardino Mountains - pleaded not guilty to arson charges today.
John Alfred Rund entered the plea during an arraignment via video in Victorville Superior Court.
Rund faces charges of arson, arson during a state of emergency and possessing a flammable liquid and/or incendiary device, said Deputy District Attorney Michelle Lauron, who appeared in court.
Rund has not been connected to any other wildfires, Lauron said.
If convicted, the defendant faces a up to 10 years in state prison. He is being held on $750,000 bail.
The 48-year-old Rund, of Hesperia, was arrested late Tuesday after authorities followed him to an address on Highway 173, in the community of Summit Valley.
Witnesses allegedly spotted Rund start a fire in brush on Highway 173, south of Arrowhead Lake Road, then leave on a Honda motorcycle.
Summit Valley is in unincorporated San Bernardino County.
-- Mike Cruz

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today visited evacuees at the National Orange Show and toured the local assistance center that opened earlier in the day.
"The victims of these wildfires have suffered greatly and have lost so much. We must do everything to ensure all available resources are used to assist the fire victims and their communities to recover as quickly as possible," Schwarzenegger stated in a prepared statement.
The local assistance centers serve as efficient one-stop sources for disaster relief services including information on how to replace records lost in the fires, file insurance claims and apply for assistance and housing. The Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Employment Development Department, Contractors State License Board, Department of Insurance, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Public Health, Department of Social Services and other state and local agencies will be represented at the centers.
Additional local assistance centers will be opened as needed and will be posted on the Governor's Office of Emergency Services homepage at www.oes.ca.gov.
-- George Watson

SAN BERNARDINO - Overcrowding at a shelter for evacuees is not uncommon, especially as the Slide and Grass Valley fires rage.

But at this shelter, the evacuees have four legs instead of two.

Overcrowding at the San Bernardino County Animal Shelter and the makeshift animal evacuees shelter at the National Orange Show center prompted the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter to lend a helping hand by providing housing to displaced animals.

More than 40 animals are currently nestled into cages, and like their owners, are just waiting to go home.
Shelter worker Jennifer Van Ness knows the feeling - she’s been displaced from her Crestline home since Monday when mountain access was closed due to the Grass Valley Fire.

For now, Van Ness is staying with her mother in Alta Loma. She has not been able to see her own animals since husband, Mark, who stayed behind to watch over their home. Officials have told her that it could be up to three weeks before she would be able to come home.

“I left everything behind,” she says. “But since we don’t have any fires where we are at, (I’m) just going to wait until it’s absolutely clear to go back up.”

-- Kristina Hernandez

The Apple Tree Learning Center in East Highlands Ranch is hosting a "Feed Our Firefighters" food drive throughout the duration of the Grass Valley and Slide Fires. All donations can be dropped off at the learning center at 28909 Base Line, at Church Street, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the city of Highland's website.

Donations will be dlivered daily to firefighters in the mountains. As of Tuesday, more than 20 crates of food, 30-plus crates of water and 10 pizzas from American Pizza have been delivered to firefighters, according to the information posted on Highland's website.

Albertsons supermarket has also donated bottled water, canned fruit and various snacks. Lists of suggested items are posted at Albertsons and the Stater Bros on Greenspot Road and Church Street in Highland.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

SAN BERNARDINO - Amidst the hazy chaos of major wildfires, Linda Johnson was a study in grace.

Whether smoothing mustard and mayonnaise on slices of white bread or speaking calm directions to other volunteers, the mother of three was unflappable under pressure.

“Helping people in need is just a lifelong thing for me,” said Johnson, hands clad in plastic gloves, while taking a brief respite from helping prep lunch for 2,000.

Johnson joined about 50 other volunteers and missionaries on Wednesday at the San Bernardino Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints in preparing and packing about 2,000 sack lunches for evacuees at the National Orange Show Events Center. One day earlier, the same group put together about 500 lunches for crews on the fire lines in the local mountains.

Johnson, a tall, svelte mother of three, said springing into action volunteer services to others is a way of life.

“When the fires started, all the (church) sisters called each other started thinking about how we could help,” she said.

Johnson went to the National Orange Show, the areas largest evacuation center, on Tuesday to assess how many lunches they should bring.

“It was sad,” she said of the scene at the NOS, where more than 1,000 people are camped in the parking lots and the makeshift dormitories. “It looked to me like they needed another shelter.”

Johnson will probably be volunteering her services for lunches today and beyond. Her church is partnered with the Red Cross, which is overseeing the evacuation center, to provide food to the refugees.

“The fire may be put out soon, but people will still be needing help,” she said.

-- Robert Rogers

SAN BERNARDINO - She’s read all the media reports and made her rounds of calls.

“There’s fire on all points all around our place,” said Scarlett Heston, a 37-year-old mother of two.

Heston knows the perils of fire, because she’s felt it before. This is the second time she’s had to flee the flames with her young ones and land at the National Orange Show for assistance. Heston went through the harrowing drill during the Old Fire of 2003, which ended with the relief that her house was spared.

The feeling of deja vu is there this time, but the happy ending is not so certain.

“We’re mountain people,” Heston said. “We all know about fire and we all stay in contact. From what I know, my house is in the red zone.”

Heston has insurance on the house, but frets that the high deductible she had to accept in order to afford the monthly premiums.

But an even more burdensome albatross hangs around Heston’s: immediate economic and social challenges.

She's a customer service worker at the Lake Arrowhead Resort, which relies on tourism. But there aren’t any tourists in the middle of a wildfire. For now, the resort is closed and she can’t work. Her kids, two teenagers who attend Rim of the World High School, are behind in their studies. The cell phone bill is going to be a killer this time.

“This is our second time in the trenches,” she said, sitting on a wall away from the crowd of refugees at the NOS. “And it isn’t any easier.”

-- Robert Rogers

The voluntary evacuation for some neighborhoods in northeastern Highland has been lifted as of noon today.
-- George Watson

RUNNING SPRINGS - Aaron Terry and the rest of the U.S. Forest Service’s Engine 12 are used to being sent away to fight fires, sometimes around the state.

But today, their work has hit home.

During the Slide Fire, the Running Springs-based engine company has the task of protecting their hometown.

On Sunday, the five-member company started battling the Ranch Fire in Piru near Santa Clarita. By Monday, they were pulled off the Ranch Fire and sent back, where they’ve spent their time protecting homes in their own small community.

Terry, 22, said he was surprised that it wasn’t strange for him to fight a major fire threatening his own home and his friends’ homes.

“I look at it as the job and the duty,” said Terry,who is in his second year with the Forest Service.

Since arriving Monday and trying to sneak in five to six hours of sleep a night, the group has spent its time around Green Valley Lake, Arrowbear and Running Springs.

On Wednesday, they were assembling at Camp Cedar Crest, outside Green Valley Lake.

“We’re going to try to save this camp,” said Mike Gomezcq, another firefighter on Engine 12.

While the five firefighters do some of the most dangerous work on the mountain, they shy away from bragging.
It was up to their strike team leader, Bill Molnar, to tell the story of their exploits. He said that Wednesday morning Engine 12 alone saved at least two homes on their way to the camp. They saw a house burning on Live Oak Drive near Leprechaun Drive and immediately started protecting all the homes around it.
It was time to go to work.
-Jason Pesick

The Roller Derby event at the National Orange Show scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. is being rescheduled due to the fires.

The match was to be between the Firebirds and the Red Devils. Event organizers said they hoped to reschedule the event for sometime in November.

Ticket holders may visit the National Orange Show Administration office at 689 South E Street for more information.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors announced the opening of a Fire Emergency Local Assistance Center, or FELAC. The center opened this afternoon at the National Orange Show at the Dome building.

County Supervisor Paul Biane said the center would serve as a one-stop shop for evacuees. Biane said the center would combine dozens of county, state and private resources. He said 200 different fire agencies in Southern California were gaining on the devastating fires.

“The tide is turning,” he said. “We're making progress.”

-- Robert Rogers

After assessing the situation, Department of Motor Vehicle officials at the Sacramento headquarters gave the green light for the Rancho Cucamonga DMV office to reopen at 12:30 today, Thursday, Oct. 25.

At least three other DMV offices in our area, Fontana, San Bernardino and Redlands, remained closed as of Thursday afternoon.

Per a county press release:
People who live or work near the areas affected by the fires are urged to stay alert to changing smoke levels. Margaret Beed, M.D., Health Officer with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health today advised sensitive groups including young children, the elderly, and those with lung or heart ailments, to avoid prolonged or heavy activity. The general public should also limit activities that require prolonged exposure and strenuous exercise or sports participation.

All San Bernardino City Unified School District Schools will re-open on Monday, Oct. 29, following a four-day closure due to unhealthful air and unsafe road conditions. This includes all childcare centers, the Adult School, and the Y Academy.
All before- and after-school programs, extracurricular and athletic events also will resume. All district employees should report to work on Monday.
For current information on the district's school closures, call (909) 888-KIDS (5437).
-- Selicia Kennedy-Ross

The Grass Valley Fire is only active on the west side of its footprint, said Tom Kempton, a information officer who is a battalion chief with the Anchorage Fire Department.
It's a steep area filled with dead trees, he said. The main concern is keeping the blaze from advancing into Miller Canyon, where there are a number of homes spread out, he added. Bulldozers are working to keep the fire out while helicopters are making repeated drops.

Many Southern California mosques are offering a special prayer tonight asking God for rain to help the firefighters end the wildfires.
This call for prayers was initiated Tuesday by the Council on American Islamic Relations.
CAIR officials urged every individual at home, mosques and houses of worship to offer a prayer and ask for rain.
Praying to God and asking for rain is part the Islamic religion, and it is mentioned in the Quran.
The prophet Muhammad used to also offer a prayer for rain such as:
“O God, give us rain that will replenish us, abundant, fertilizing and profitable, not injurious.
Grant it now without delay ... Send down rain upon us and make it a source of strength and satisfaction ...
O God, give us a saving rain, good and productive, general and heavy, now and not later, beneficial and not harmful.”
-- Mona Shadia

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, gave the following statement today regarding the California wildfires at a House Agriculture Committee Hearing on the effects of disaster and weather on American agriculture:
“Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlate, thank you for holding this hearing on disaster. I know this was meant to be a platform for agricultural disaster throughout the country, but I want to take a minute to mention the obvious and real disaster going on right now in my own district and throughout Southern California.

At yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Stater Bros. Corporate Headquarters San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris said he would ask the City Council for $20,000 on Nov. 5 to add to a local fire relief fund.
Morris also said he has received a commitment from Stater Bros. Chairman and CEO Jack Brown to match whatever the city contributes. -- Michael Sorba

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office today filed charges against a Redlands man for trying to start a fire in Rancho Cucamonga.
The DA filed one count of arson of forest land and one count of arson during a state of emergency against Anthony Riperti, 47. If he is convicted of both counts, the second count can increase the overal prison sentence. Riperti is not a suspect in any other fires in San Bernardino County at this time. The investigation into this case is ongoing.
Bail was set at $250,000. Riperti will be arraigned later today at the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse.
He was arrested Tuesday.
-- George Watson

The Slide Fire is on the move in the Arctic Circle and appears headed toward the Butler II Fire footprint.
That's the good news because once it hits the Butler II area, it should lay down. There's little to burn there.
But Caltrans officials are expressing some concern about the current blaze being in the Arctic Circle because of what it could mean for Highway 18.
-- Louis Amestoy

Four air tankers are working with the Super Scooper plane, hammering the Slide Fire with repeated water drops.
"The last 30 minutes, it's really picking up," said reporter Louis Amestoy.
-- George Watson

For the past three days, readers have been asking The Sun if we could determine whether their home remained or had been lost to the wildfires.
When we can, we will post information doing our best to identify the lost houses. It's difficult because as houses burn, there is little left to identify them. But recently, our reporters have been trying.
Matt Wrye reports that in Green Valley Lake, directly across the street from 32965 Canyon Drive, three homes are destroyed. All that remains is rubble.
Looking at 32965 Canyon Drive, the house immediately to the right is gone.
On Holcomb Creek Drive, the house between 33348 and 33362 is gone.
Facing 33301 Holcomb Creek Drive, three houses directly to the left are gone.
Reporter Louis Amestoy reports that 2336 and 2350 Deep Creek Drive in Running Springs have been destroyed.
We would like to express condolences to anyone who has lost a home.
-- George Watson

HESPERIA - A Hesperia man was charged today with setting a fire off Highway 173 during high winds and while firefighters were battling several other major brush fires in San Bernardino County.
John Alfred Rund, 48, is scheduled to be arraigned in Victorville Superior Court on charges of arson on forest land, arson during a state of emergency and possession of a flammable material of incendiary device, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.
Rund, who is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail, is not a suspect in any other fires in the county, prosecutors said.
Witnesses said they saw someone squatting down near where the fire started. The person then fled the scene on a Honda motorcycle. A CHP officer in a helicopter searched the area using infrared equipment. The man was eventually captured and arrested.
-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The Super Scooper plane is making repeated dumps on the Slide Fire, which continues to burn in forest area.
It appears the plane, which looks like a flying boat, is dumping its ample payload north of Highway 18 just above Snow Valley.
The plane is picking up the water from Big Bear Lake.
-- Louis Amestoy

Per the Associated Press:
The National Weather Service says light offshore winds will flow into Southern California Saturday morning and could bring local gusts of up to 25 mph in mountain passes and canyons.
However, the winds are not expected to be widespread like the hot, dry Santa Ana winds that helped fan this week’s deadly wildfires.
Calmer winds in recent days have helped firefighters make progress against the blazes that continue to burn across a wide swath of Southern California. The fires have destroyed at least 1,800 homes and triggered the largest evacuation in state history.
-- George Watson

According to a press release from the Community Foundation:
Mayor Ron Loveridge of the City of Riverside, Mayor Pat Morris of the City of San Bernardino, and John Tavaglione, Chair of the Board of Supervisors of Riverside County, have asked Dr. James Erickson, President and CEO of The Community Foundation serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, to coordinate the fundraising efforts in our region for the fire stricken citizens throughout Southern California.
Erickson previously coordinated the efforts for fundraising for the Tsunami and Katrina disasters raising over a million dollars in each case from the private sector. The American Red Cross, the United Ways and other agencies will partner with The Community Foundation in this effort.

Per the Associated Press
California wildfire overall statistics:
Acreage: 482,691
Homes Destroyed: At least 1,400, according to individual county reports.
Deaths: One confirmed fire death, five fire-related deaths. Two charred bodies thought to be killed by fire found this morning.
Injuries: 26 to civilians, 40 to firefighters.
Major wildfires burning in California, by county:
San Bernardino County:
* Slide Fire: 11,366 acres in Green Valley Lake area of the San Bernardino Mountains, east of Lake Arrowhead. No
containment. At least 200 homes destroyed. No injuries reported.
* Grass Valley Fire: 1,100 acres in Grass Valley area northwest of Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. 40 percent contained. At least 113 homes destroyed. No injuries reported.
* An estimated 16,000 homes in the mountain resort communities around both fires are threatened. Thousands of residents and a hospital evacuated.

A Fire Emergency Local Assistance Center is opening at 1:30 p.m. today at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino.
The FELAC will initially house basic government services that have until now been staged within the Red Cross Evacuation Center.
As the fires die down and residents begin returning to the mountains, the facility will serve as a one-stop center for more than 40 county, state, and federal services that will assist fire victims in coping with the effects of the disaster.
Agencies housed at the center will help fire victims with medical services, disaster aid, rebuilding assistance, document recovery, communications, employment, voting, and other recovery efforts.
The facility will be located in the 11,000-square-foot National Orange Show Events Center Dome.
-- George Watson

Standing in the middle of Green Valley Lake's downtown, it appears the main damage is at the lumber yard, which is essentially gone.
All that remains are concrete cinderblocks, pipes and steel I-beams. A forklift, pickup truck and tractor are charred. A half-dozen homes in the nearby area also have been destroyed.
White smoke wafts from the smoldering ground amidst blackened pine trees.
Craig Scutter, a firefighter with CalFire, was going street by street, trying to take count of the damage to homes.
Asked why some houses burned and others on the same street were left untouched, he explained the random nature of the blaze.
“It's a matter of how the embers flew,” Scutter said.
-- Matt Wrye

Two air tankers based out of British Columbia have been flown to The States to help fight local wildfires, said Stephen L. Johnson of the Bureau of Land Management, who is working as an information officer from the mountain command center at Rim of the World High School.

Johnson said two Martin Mars tankers flew into California on Wednesday. He said he was not know exactly how the aircraft would be deployed to help fight the Grass Valley and Slide fires but he and U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller both said they saw the aircraft fly over the San Bernardino Mountains.

The Martin Mars aircraft can stay airborne for six hours and carry 7,200 gallons of water or fire retardant, according to Coulson Flying Tankers, a company based in Port Alberni, British Columbia. The four-engine aircraft were first envisioned by aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin as a long range bomber.

-Andrew Edwards
(Note: This entry was modified from its original version at 6:01 p.m. Thursday.)

Terrain north of Highway 18 about one mile east of the Green Valley Lake Road turnoff continues to smolder.
A little deeper into the forest, the Slide Fire still burns. Flames about 25 feet high can be seen.
Hand crews have been sprinkled along Highway 18 as they try and stamp out spot fires.
From this vantage point, the view to the south is clear. Looking north, smoke has blanketed the mountain.
-- Matt Wrye

A dozen appraisers from the county Assessor's Office today are working in the fire-damaged communities in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Adam Aleman, an assistant assessor with the county, said they are identifying destroyed and damaged homes.
Later this afternoon, his office will be releasing as much information as possible to wildfire victims at the evacuation centers in San Bernardino and Victorville. Officials are still trying to determine the best way to release the information, which will include the status of individual homes assessed by the workers, he said.
"We don't want to cause a panic or a stampede at the evacuation centers," Aleman said. "But one way or another, we are doing our best to make sure they know.
"We may put up a bulletin board, we may call them through a PA system. We just don't know yet."
His office will also be releasing the culmulative data from the destruction of the fire today. That will include the number of homes destroyed and damaged, along with the market value of the cost of the total damage, he said.
-- George Watson

San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said that as of Thursday morning, officials have not yet decided on when evacuees will be allowed to return home.

Mountain communities have been evacuated from Crestline to Snow Valley. As of Thursday morning, there was still a chance of fire activity near homes in the southern Running Springs area, where the Slide Fire is still a threat.

The Grass Valley Fire is burning west of Lake Arrowhead in a canyon. Secure fire lines have yet to be established between the blaze and the Twin Peaks and Crestline communities.

Martinez said fire officials were working to figure out when mountain dwellers would be allowed to return home, but their decision is dependent upon what the fires do next.

-Andrew Edwards

Southern California Edison has announced that utility crews are set to begin damage assessments in the San Bernardino Mountains Thursday morning.

As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, about 1,940 customers across Southern California were without power because of wildfires. The Lake Arrowhead area was among the most severely effected regions, with about 260 customers without electricity.

-Andrew Edwards

Fire crews from Colorado, Nevada, Washington and other states will begin trickling in to help firefighters already battling the Slide and Grass Valley fires, officials said during a briefing this morning.
Continuous air attacks are planned for both blazes. Ten helicopters will be used this morning and two more in the afternoon. Four air tankers are also going to be utilized.
Damage assessment crews that have been cruising the Grass Valley Fire will be shifted to the Slide Fire today, although fire officials say their main focus continues to be on Grass Valley.
The fire has slowed down to a spread of 10 feet per minute due to the diminishing winds.
Firefighters are putting out hot spots in the Miller Creek and Miller Canyon areas and will move through toward Yankee River, officials said. They plan to heavily attack both fires over the next few days because the strong winds are expected to return after Saturday.
-- Matt Wrye

A note from Thursday morning's briefing at Rim of the World High School:

Firefighters can expect to be assisted from above Thursday by 10 helicopters and four air tankers that have been assigned to both the Grass Valley and Slide fires.

Aerial operations are set to be supervised in the sky by a single air attack unit.

-Andrew Edwards

The California Highway Patrol said the following highways remain closed due to the fires:
- Highway 18 between 40th Street and Big Bear Dam
- Highway 330 from Highland to Highway 18
- Highway 189
- Highway 138 between Highway 173 to Highway 18.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Firefighters assigned to the Grass Valley Fire, west of Lake Arrowhead, will be working Thursday to build additional fire lines on the western end of the blaze. The fire is 40 percent contained and crews have already cut line to block the flames from returning to the neighborhoods where the fire was active Monday.

"We're trying to connect the dots over here," planning section chief Patrick Farrell said after Thursday morning's briefing at Rim of the World High School.

The Grass Valley Fire is burning in steep canyon country in the Tunnel 2 Ridge area.

"It's a patchy burn, it's not all black," Farrell said.

Overall, Farrell said Thursday could be a good day for firefighting. He said it appears the weather and smoke conditions will allow helicopter and tanker pilots to fly drop water and fire retardant above the Grass Valley and Slide fires and forecasters are still predicting easy winds.

Weather-wise, firefighters have a three-day window during which wind conditions are expected to be somewhat calm. There is a chance that northeasterly downslope winds could return to Southern California Sunday and early next week. Farrell said crews want to take advantage of that time, especially after the sun goes down.

"Most of the most-effective stuff happens at night," he said.

As of Thursday, firefighters working the Grass Valley and Slide fires are still using Rim of the World High School as their command post, but crews working the Slide Fire, which is burning near Running Springs, are assembling at Snow Valley Ski Resort.

There is still the potential for live fire to burn near homes in Running Springs. There's still a chance for fire activity in neighborhoods south of Highway 18 and southward along Running Springs School Road, according to briefing materials.

Farrell said more firefighting resources are expected to trickle in to the San Bernardino Mountains as fires in Los Angeles County are becoming less of a threat. He said the local emergency still requires more experienced hand crews who are skilled with using heavy hand tools to clear away brush around the burn area.

-Andrew Edwards

With lighter winds and higher humidity on their side, firefighters planned to focus on building containment lines on the Slide and Grass Valley fires today.
The Slide grew to 11,366 acres overnight, but no new buildings were destroyed, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kristel Johnson. More than 200 structures have burned since the blaze ignited Monday.
“The weather has definitely been in the firefighters’ favor,” Johnson said. “At this point, relative humidity has increased to 26 percent, and that's significant because it was between 5 to 10 on the first two days of the fire.”
Firefighters were using Highway 18 as a containment line as flames moved downhill against the wind into Arrowbear and the Snow Valley area, but no structures are threatened there. The fire was threatening about 10,000 homes elsewhere.
The Grass Valley Fire held at 1,100 acres this morning and was 40 percent contained. More than 1,000 firefighters battled the blaze, which was expected to be fully contained by Sunday, Johnson said.
More fire handcrews were expected to join the battles today, but officials say they’re waiting anxiously for what they call “critical resources” such as hot shot crews to help in the fires.
It has cost an estimated $4.5 million to battle the two blazes.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

SAN DIEGO — A massive aerial assault and a break in harsh winds helped firefighters make their first major progress against Southern California’s firestorm in San Diego County, raising evacuees’ hopes of returning home for good. But flames were still drawing perilously toward thousands of houses.

REDLANDS - Police suspect arson is the cause of up to three small fires set Wednesday afternoon and evening in the south side of town.
Witnesses saw a similar truck at two of the fires and a man in his early 20s was spotted at one of them, said Redlands police Sgt. Travis Martinez.
The first fire was reported about 6:30 p.m. and a second at 7:24 p.m. in the hills on the south end of town. One of the fires was extinguished by an off-duty police officer who used numerous fire extinguishers. Police are also looking into a fire that burned earlier in the day to see if it is connected to the other two because it occurred in the same area, Martinez said.
The vehicle seen at the evening blazes was a silver two-door early-2000s truck with an extra cab and numerous items in the back.
Police are looking for a white man with sandy crew-cut blond hair.
Anyone with information may call Redlands police, (909) 798-7681.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The orange glow of smoldering tree trunks illuminated a slope near Highway 18 late Wednesday night.

The sight, about one-half mile north of downtown Running Springs, would be beautiful if not for the terrible potentials of wildfire. The scene was but a small part of the Slide Fire, a blaze that since its ignition Monday has scarred 10,800 acres and destroyed more than 200 homes.

Firefighters who were assigned to overnight duty around Running Springs will spend much of their shift working to cool off hot spots that smoke and simmer near area homes, said Steve Shaw, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief.

"There's still a lot to do," he said. "In this case, we're mopping up."

Shaw was assigned to oversee a strike team working near Fredalba, which is south of Running Springs proper. The air was smoky during the overnight shift, but still. Only light breezes stirred the leaves of trees growing near Running Springs.

Shaw was cautiously optimistic that the weather could be beneficial at this stage in the battle against the Slide Fire. He said the absence of heavy winds would be helpful "as long as it stays consistent."

-Andrew Edwards

Mountain evacuees will be able to pick up their mail at a temporary Post Office near San Bernardino International Airport.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller sent out an announcement Wednesday that stated the temporary Post Office had been opened near the crossing of East Harry Sheppard Boulevard and Del Rosa Drive.

Running Springs is cool and still a few minutes after midnight Thursday morning.

Firefighters' overnight forecast calls for temperatures around 43 to 49 degrees with relative humidities as high as 28 to 38 percent. During the daytime Thursday, temperatures are expected to reach 68 to 73 degrees with relative humidities as high as 18 to 23 percent.

Thursday is not expected to be a very windy day. South to southwest winds are forecasted to breeze by at speeds of around 5 to 8 miles per hour with afternoon gusts blowing around 20 miles per hour.

The weather is expected to cool off by Friday and Saturday, with some moist ocean air coming to the lower elevations of the fire area. That's a big change from the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that plagued Southern California earlier this week and fanned the spread of fires in the San Bernardino Mountains and other parts of Southern California.

Business is slow at The Stockade.

In fact, all of Crestline is almost totally silent late Wednesday, the third day that a curfew has been in effect around the areas affected by the Grass Valley and Slide Fires. A California Highway Patrol officer on the watch for curfew breakers advised a Sun reporter that not much activity was likely to be found in this mountain community after sunset.

The officer's prediction was on target - there was clsoe to nothing going on in Crestline around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. But Lucy Espino, night bartender at The Stockade, isn't too happy about the curfew order.

Espino said county sheriff's deputies showed up at The Stockade around 6 p.m. Monday and told all the customers to go home.

"The fire's not threatening us, we're trying to feed people," Espino said.

By Wednesday, the Grass Valley Fire had burned its way into a drainage northeast of the Crestline area. San Bernardino Mountain communities from Crestline (at the west) and Snow Valley (at the east) have been placed under mandatory evacuation.

Espino said she would rather see The Stockade open to serve those who stayed in the mountains, as well as firefighters and even law enforcement officers who are presently charged with making sure people obey the curfew.

The bartender said she has seen unaccompanied minors wandering the streets of Crestline at night, and laughed at the fact that adults are not allowed to have a meal and beer at The Stockade.

"We have young kids out after 10 (p.m.) during curfew, and we adults have to be in by 6 (p.m.)," Espino said.

Crestline is under patrol. The Sun reporter who interviewed Espino was later stopped by a San Bernardino County code enforcement officer who notified sheriff's deputies that a man was on the streets. Deputies rolled out to meet the reporter, verified his press pass and informed the code enforcement officer that the reporter's presence was OK.

-Andrew Edwards

Some firefighters will sleep at Rim of the World High School Wednesday night, but others will be catching some shut-eye at the recently-remodeled Lake Arrowhead Resort.

"The last couple of nights, we were sleeping on sidewalks, so this is a change," San Bernardino City firefighter Ryan Starling said.

Wednesday night, the Lake Arrowhead Resort was only open for emergency crews and utility workers. The hotel's lobby featured a large flatscreen television showing the first game of the 2007 World Series, but there wasn't much interest among fire crews in watching the Boston Red Sox blow out the Colorado Rockies.

San Bernardino City firefighter Craig Mashburn said his crew rolled up to Lake Arrowhead Monday in time to fight the Grass Valley Fire when the flames were attacking neighborhoods. He said one interesting moment on the job during the past few days was finding a collection of family pictures in front of a destroyed Lake Arrowhead area house. Mashburn said it appeared as if members of an engine company that arrived at the house before San Bernardino City firefighters did saved the pictures despite not being able to protect the house.

Monday, city firefighters were able to protect a home that near Green Valley Lake that was already burning when they rolled up to the residence, San Bernardino City firefightrer Chris Bowen said. The home's eaves were alight when firefighters arrived, but that house was saved.

Six homes near that house were destroyed, firefighters said.

City firefighters said that on Tuesday, the owners of the saved house were able to greet some of the firefighters who worked to protect the house from Grass Valley's flames. Mashburn remarked that another firefighter told him that encounter was the best moment of his career.

-Andrew Edwards

The University of California, Irvine announced Wednesday that a professor and 20-student team have created a free Web site that is designed to allow persons displaced by Southern California wildfires to connect with people who are willing to offer shelter during the current crisis.

"All of us have been affected by the fires, and many of us have friends who have had to evacuate," said UCI informatics professor Bill Tomlinson said in a press release. "In class, we were discussing what we could do to contribute, and decided we had the skills and resources to make a Web site to help evacuees find places to stay. "

The Web site can be accessed at www.calfirehelp.com.

-Andrew Edwards

Grass Valley Fire
Homes destroyed: 100-plus
Acres: 1,100
Containment: 30 percent
Date of expected full containment: Sunday, Oct. 28
Cause: Under investigation
Direction: Burning north
Resources: 17 handcrews, 99 engines, seven water tenders, three helicopters, 1 bulldozer.
Personnel: 548

Slide Fire
Homes destroyed: 200
Acres: 10,800 acres
Containment: 0 percent
Cause: Under investigation
Direction: Burning southeast
Resources: Seven handcrews, three helicopters, 160 engines, 28 water tenders and 1 bulldozer.
Personnel: 564

Source: U.S. Forest Service

--Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Wednesday, firefighters battling the Grass Valley and Slide fires assembled at Rim of the World High School.

That's going to change as of Thursday morning. Crews assigned to the Grass Valley Fire are set to remain at Rim of the World, but firefighters engaged in action against the Slide Fire will switch to a new command center at Snow Valley Mountain Resort, which is north of Running Springs. Snow Valley is closer to Slide's burn area.

Tom Kempton, a Battalion Chief from the Anchorage Fire Department who has come to the San Bernardino Mountains to show the news media around the wildfires, said officials could visit the evacuees at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino as early as Thursday to let provide information on how badly properties have been damaged.

Wednesday morning, officials said 100 homes were destroyed by the Grass Valley Fire. Kempton said that number is likely to climb not because more houses burned down on Wednesday, but because assessment crews visitied the area to gain more accurate information on how extensive the damage is.

Wednesday night that there's still no expectation of when evacuees will be alllowed back up the hill.

"It's going to be a while. And the problem with that is there's no utilities," Kempton said.

Telephone lines and wires were still strewn around several Green Valley Lake area streets Wednesday. The word from residents who stayed in the area is that water pressure is still low. Also on Wednesday, several

(The following is an account from staffwriter Carolyn Schatz on her pet)
Ralphie is a survivor.
He’s survived two fires, and his tail’s not even singed.
Ralphie of Running Springs is on at least his third life by now. He’s my mountain cat who’s a cherished family pet — but also an outdoor animal, through and through.

The San Bernardino County Assessor’s team was out in the field Wednesday to survey property damage. The assessor’s report will be finalized Thursday and released in the late afternoon with information about houses that have been destroyed or damaged.
The addresses and locations will be posted at local evacuation centers Thursday.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

The Chevron Corporation on Tuesday promised $500,000 to support Southern California wildfire relief efforts.
The donation includes a $400,000 contribution to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and a $100,000 contribution that will be directed towards local charities and relief efforts in the communities where Chevron operates.
Chevron also reached out to support evacuees by providing 20,000 bottles of water and 11,500 meals. Chevron's Richmond Refinery has also dispatched a firefighting team and an engine to Southern California under a mutual aid program.
-Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Calif. Wildfires Losses Reach $1 Billion
By ALEX VEIGA – 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Losses from the wildfires ripping across Southern California have reached $1 billion, and economists said Wednesday the tally could be pushed even higher when the final costs of rebuilding and lost tourism are determined.

But the region's diverse, booming economy will likely weather the setback and might even see a mini-boom as it rebounds and rebuilds.

"It's a human tragedy, it's not an economic tragedy," said Stephen Levy, senior economist at the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "It's asset losses, it's property damage, probably a lot less than what people have lost through foreclosures."

The Red Cross urges all those who have evacuated or who expect to evacuate to register their well being on the Red Cross Safe and Well website, available at www.redcross.org. This Internet tool allows people in disaster-affected areas to register their well-being using several pre-scripted messages. Family and friends can then log on and search for registered individuals to learn of their whereabouts and safety.

People without access to a computer or without electricity or connectivity can call the Red Cross (1-800-REDCROSS) for help registering, or contact a loved one to register on their behalf.

Please note that the Safe and Well site safeguards the privacy of the disaster victim. Although these messages will be viewable by friends or family members who conduct a successful search, the site does not reveal a specific location or contact information.

Calls from concerned Redlands residents poured into the Redlands Daily Facts newsroom about whether the famous letter "R" landmark on the hillside was on fire.
However, the beloved "R," visible from several vantage points in the city and the West end of the pass, has not burned.
The smoke is from the Slide and Grass Valley fires.
-Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Ralph's And Food 4 Less superpamarkets have jointly donated more than $350,000 in products and grants to Southern California wildfire relief efforts.
The supermarkets donated more than $150,000 worth of food, water and other supplies like paper goods to firefighters battling the fires and the American Red Cross. The company's nonprofit Ralph's/Food 4 Less Foundation donated $200,000 to the American Red Cross Wildfire Relief Fund.
-Selicia Kennedy-Ross

The seeming randomness of the fire’s destruction - many streets are
full of seemingly unscathed houses that stand next to charred ruins -
is not really so random, California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection Forester Jason Meyer said.
On Brentwood Drive, Meyer said one of the houses that survived the
Grass Valley Fire is a monument to smart design. A bed of gravel
surrounded the house, which also featured slate shingles (no wood
shake there) and the place was swept clear of combustible pine
needles.
The house wasn’t completely free of damage, however. The windows
facing a neighboring house that was destroyed were smashed open.
“It (the fire) probably superheated those windows to the point where
it cracked the glass,” Meyer said.
-Andrew Edwards

PHOENIX (AP) — Airlines are waiving some fees for passengers who need to change their plans because of devastating wildfires in Southern California.

American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways all had notices on their Web sites Wednesday telling customers flying to and from Southern California that they can change their flights for free, saving up to $100 per ticket.

SAN BERNARDINO - The following closures are reported for public schools in San Bernardino County as of 4 p.m. Wednesday due to wildfire threats and unhealthful air quality.

· Bear Valley Unified Fallsvale Elementary only closed through Oct. 26 (909) 866-4631.

· Colton Jt. Unified - All schools closed and activities cancelled through Oct. 27, (909) 580-5000.

A man was arrested on suspicion of arson Tuesday after someone reported he tried to set the grass on fire at a Rancho Cucamonga park.

Anthony Joseph Riperti was booked into county jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. Authorities don’t believe he is connected to any of the large fires burning in Southern California.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Ells said deputies responded to the park near Archibald Avenue and 6th Street just before 8 p.m. and found a small fire barely smoldering on the grass. It was easily extinguished.

Riperti, 45, was arrested nearby and identified as the fire starter by a witness, Ells said.

Police say they walked up on a man who they suspect was getting ready to set a fire near Cal State San Bernardino on Tuesday night.

But police won’t be able to ask him what he was doing by the school because he was fatally shot by police when he tried to ram several officers with his car, officers said.

“Was he an arsonist? We don’t know,” said San Bernardino police Lt. Scott Paterson. “They’re looking into that now.”

A man arrested Tuesday on suspicion of starting a fire by Highway 173 is not a suspect in the Slide or Grass Valley fires, sheriff’s officials said.

John Alfred Rund of Hesperia was seen squatting down along Highway 173 and Arrow Lake Road about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the spot where a fire broke out. Deputies later arrested him on suspicion of that fire, but they don’t think he has a connection to the other blazes.

A number of offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles closed Wednesday due to poor air conditions from area fires.
The closed field offices were those in Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, San Bernardino as well as other DMV offices in other areas.
Additionally, the commercial driver license office in San Bernardino was also closed on Wednesday.
No word was available about whether the offices would reopen on Thursday.

-- Joe Blackstock

Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane today announced in a news release that the county's 211 social services phone system will temporarily serve as an information resource for victims of the ongoing wildfires.

Several fire engines are setting up on Pine Cone Drive in Running Springs to protect structures in case the fire flares up in the area.
Flames in the canyon below cannot be seen because of the thick white smoke but helicopters were dropping water in the ravine.
A crew frm Corona City Fire was battling a handful of hot spots on a small unincorporated road.
"It's been reactive but a lot of guys are working really hard," said Capt. John Gross.

-- Stacia Glenn

The Attorney General's office has vowed to prosecute businesses that attempt to illegally profit from the state's wildfires.

California has a law on the books making it a crime for businesses to substantially raise prices for goods and services during a state of emergency. The anti-price gouging statute prohibits boosting prices by more than 10 percent over what they cost before the emergency.

This law applies to those who sell food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials, and gasoline. The law also applies to repair or reconstruction services, emergency cleanup services, transportation, freight and storage services, and housing and hotel accommodations.

Consumers who believe they have been victimized by price gouging should immediately file a written complaint with the Attorney General's Public Inquiry Unit: www.ag.ca.gov/consumers or by calling (800) 952-5225.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today that low-interest disaster loans are now available to California residents and businesses. This in response to President Bush's Federal disaster declaration of the 7 county region effected by the wildfires.

The declaration, which includes San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, also covers Los the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

COLTON – Saddleback RV announced today that they will be setting up a disaster relief donation center in their parking lot for people to drop off non-perishable items and toiletries.
Saddleback RV also plans to donate water and toilet paper to fire victims.
Those wishing to make a donation can stop by Saddleback RV's parking lot site, located at 755 Ashley Way. Saddleback RV is located off the I-215 and I-10 freeways.
For more information, call Saddleback RV at 1-866-399-3165 or visit www.saddlebackrv.com.
-- Michael Munoz

Bill Trainor is passing along a story that is a little rare right now - something positive.
Trainor lives in Lake Arrowhead. He evacuated from his home Monday morning. He contacted his insurance company, California Casualty, which overnighted a check to him.
"They have taken care of me the way they promised to take care of me," he said.
But he couldn't cash it anywhere. He went to three banks that said they were sorry but they could not help him.
So he made one last try. He stopped at Stater Bros. and spoke with the manager, Jim Panzino.
"He had no problem once he checked to make sure the check was for me," Trainor said. "It just goes to show what happens when you go to people that you can trust."
-- George Watson

SAN BERNARDINO — The Eagles Lodge here has become a nest for an odd bunch of eggs, because of the fires sweeping the San Bernardino Mountains.
About 35 families who fled the fires have taken up residence in the club’s parking lot in trailers, RVs and tents, according Deneen Ramirez, a lodge spokeswoman.
The lodge is hatching up a big feed for the camper’s Thursday at 3 p.m. in the the club’s dining room at 895 E. 9th St.
The Eagles took up a collection of food and money to put on the meal, which will be served “until the food runs out,” Ramirez said.
Lodge trustee Cindy Pacheco will be presiding over the food preparation and service, Ramirez said.

Firefighters have successfully - and repeatedly - held off the Slide Fire from Running Springs' downtown.
They are now moving to the other end of town - closer to Lake Arrowhead - to Pine Cone Drive, where the fire is burning.
This current incarnation of the blaze began Tuesday in Rimwood Canyon, a place near Rimwood Ranch where there are many million dollar homes.
“It laid down pretty good overnight but it flared up again,” said CHP officer Gary Fernandez.
Charles Hoffman Elementary School, which is about a quarter-mile away, is being threatened, he added.
“This is the worse I've seen in the 13 years I've been up here,” he said.
-- Stacia Glenn

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – A man was arrested on suspicion of arson Tuesday after someone reported he tried to set the grass on fire at a Rancho Cucamonga park.

Anthony Joseph Riperti was booked into county jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. Authorities don't believe Riperti is connected to any of the large fires burning in Southern California.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Sgt. Rick Ells said deputies responded to the park near Archibald Avenue and 6th Street just before 8 p.m. and found a small fire barely smoldering on the grass. It was easily extinguished.

Riperti, 45, was arrested nearby and identified as the firestarter by a witness, Ells said.

Sheriff's officials said Wednesday that investigators have ruled out arson as a cause of the two large fires burning in the San Bernardino Mountains.

-- Rod Leveque

Evacuees at the National Orange Show are getting their spiritual needs met with a Catholic mass at 11 a.m. daily.

The Rev. Tim Keppel, priest at Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Arrowhead and St. Anne in the Mountains in Running Springs, officiated mass today to about 200 evacuees fleeing the mountain fires.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today that low-interest disaster loans are now available to California residents and businesses. This in response to President Bush's Federal disaster declaration of the 7 county region effected by the wildfires.

The declaration, which includes San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, also covers Los the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell's office is now providing a Web site with the latest information pertaining to schools in connection with the Southern California wildfires, such as assistance to schools, school closures, and evacuation centers.
It can be accessed on the California Department of Education's Web site at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/ht/yr07wildfires10.asp.
The information will be updated daily throughout the crisis.
-Selicia Kennedy-Ross

A lack of water appears to be a problem in downtown Running Springs.
Some firefighters are standing with hose in hand, but are unable to do much because there is nothing available to spray the flames. At least one crew seems to have a viable hose.
They are waiting on more engines to move up past the engines that are empty.
-- Stacia Glenn

Firefighters held off the Slide Fire from Running Springs' downtown - for the moment.
Moments after fire officials said they expected the blaze to make another push up the hill, it began to climb again.
A group of ten firefighters scrambled to get in position as flames races up the hill, just a few feet from Highway 18.
-- Stacia Glenn

Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane this morning hailed the arrest of a suspected arsonist in the Hesperia area and commended the alert witnesses who notified the authorities.

"It's inconceivable that someone would try to start a fire in the midstof all the destruction we are witnessing in our communities," Chairman Biane said, noting that ongoing wildfires have destroyed more than 300 homes and displaced thousands of county residents.

A firefighter was injured today in Green Valley Lake. The firefighter was carrying a hose pack and somehow lost his balance, causing him to fall eight-to-10 feet. He injured his back and has been taken to a hospital.
-- Stacia Glenn

The Slide Fire also looks to be getting active again by Green Valley Road
The fire is spreading there and at least a dozen structures are threatened.
Calvary Chapel Camp on Green Valley Road is in danger.
Bulldozers are en route.
Fire officials are concerned that this arm of the fire could head south to Running Springs.
-- Stacia Glenn

Relief is coming.
A carvan of five California Department of Fire and Forestry fire engines was spotted heading north on Highway 18, just about two miles south of Waterman Canyon Road.
--Andrew Edwards

All San Bernardino City Unified School District Schools will remain closed Thursday and Friday due to poor air quality and road closures.
This includes all childcare centers, the Adult School and the Y Academy. All before- and after-school programs, extracurricular and athletic events and parent conferences have also been cancelled.
District employees should not report to work this week, with the exception of essential employees who will be contacted by their supervisor.
Up-to-date information on school closures for the San Bernardino City Unified School District is available by calling 909-888-KIDS (5437).
-- Selicia Kennedy Ross

The Slide Fire continues to try and make a run at downtown Running Springs.
Structures are threatened on the east and southeast side
A nearby Running Springs school, which is east, is also threatened by the blaze.
"We're trying to get this corralled but its steep terrain," said Bob Shindelar, a fire official operations.
They need resources badly, he said. They have a desperate need for bulldozers and handcrews, he said. Air support is limited at best because of smoke, he added.
-- Stacia Glenn

Fire is burning through treetops just outside of Running Springs' downtown.
At least 100 firtefighters are trying to hold off the blaze as fingers of fire reach up to Highway 18.
On the west side, 30 engines are parked, their hoses leading far down to aid the firefighters.
Wind is light, save for periodic gusts.
Smoke fills the sky. It's hard to see further than five feet, unless you look up, where you can see a bizarre crimson image of the sun. Giant pieces of ash are tumbling through the air.
-- Stacia Glenn

A temporary post office for mountain evacuees to receive their mail has been opened at the corner of Del Rosa and Harry Shepard Boulevard in the City of San Bernardino, said Jodi Miller of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. From Third Street, turn south on Del Rosa to Harry Shepard Boulevard. For further information, contact Miller at (909) 387-3700

Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Opening of Local Assistance Centers in Southern California

Continuing his efforts to provide immediate assistance to displaced Californians affected by the southern California wildfires, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the opening of 5 local assistance centers in coordination with the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and local governments.

Grass Valley Fire (burning in and around the Lake Arrowhead and Twin Peaks areas.)
Acres: 1,000-plus
Containment: 30 percent
Structures threatened: 6,000
Structures burned: 100 plus
Resources: 99 engines, seven water tenders, 1 bulldozer, three helicopters, 17 handcrews, 548 fire personnel.
Continues to burn in a southwestern direction in the Tunnel 2 Ridge area. No additional structures were lost overnight. Spot fires continue to remain a concern.

Slide Fire (Burning in and around the Green Valley Lake and Running Springs areas.)
Acres burned: 5,119
Direction southwest
Containment: 0 percent
Strucutures threatened: 10,000
Structures destroyed: 200-plus)
Resources: 160 engines, 28 water tenders, 1 bulldozer, seven handcrews, three helicopters and 564 fire personnel.
Structure damage assessment is steadily taking place now. Containment is going slowly due to issues with terrain and heavy vegetation. Several downed power lines and propane are tanks exploding in Running Springs.

-- Matt Wrye

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today spoke on the Senate Floor early this afternoon to provide her colleagues with the latest information on the California wildfires.

At the time of Senator Feinstein’s remarks, there were 19 large fires burning throughout the State. According to reports, as many as 950,000 people had been evacuated, and the fire had burned through more than 420,000 acres and roughly 656 miles.

Following is the transcript of Senator Feinstein’s remarks on the Senate Floor:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today applauded action taken today by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to assist fire victims in their recovery efforts by declaring an insurance emergency.

The Slide Fire has reached Highway 18, and just passed Soutar Drive, as it approaches the downtown.
Twenty to 25 fire engines are waiting in Running Springs as the Slide Fire closes in on the downtown area.
Firefighters from San Bernardino City and Running Springs are hosing down trees.
The town is surrounded by thick smoke and it is raining ash. Flames have hit the main road leading into the center of town.
-- Stacia Glenn

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The nation can expect more wildfires like the ones raging through Southern California
as global climate change heats up the world’s forests, U.S. Forest Service chief Gail Kimbell said Wednesday

“Fires are burning hotter and bigger, becoming more damaging and dangerous to people and to property,” Kimbell said. “Each year the fire season comes earlier and lasts longer.”

Kimbell warned about the effects of global warming in a speech to the Society of American Foresters in
Portland.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Property damage from this week’s devastating Southern California wildfires has reached
at least $1 billion in San Diego County alone, officials said Wednesday.

The fires, now in their fourth day, have destroyed at least 1,500 homes and triggered the largest evacuation in state
history. At least 1,200 of the homes that burned were in San Diego County, where one of the blazes was burning near a nuclear power plant Wednesday, although authorities said it was not in immediate danger.

“When you get to more than 1,200 homes in San Diego, you get to one billion dollars very quickly. We blew right through that,” said Ron Roberts, a San Diego County supervisor.

A NASA unmanned Predator B Ikhana aircraft is sweeping the San Bernardino Mountains with sophisticated infrared imaging equipment to pinpoint the hottest areas of the major blazes threatening Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs areas.
The aircraft was launched from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base at about 8:45 a.m. today.
A special flight by the surveillance aircraft was requested by the California Office of Emergency Services and the National Interagency Fire Center.
NASA spokeswoman Beth Hagenauer said the Predator might also sweep down into embattled San Diego County where numerous wildfires are raging.
Hagenauer said the Ikhana Predator is carrying an autonomous modular scanner thermal infrared imaging system developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Northern California. The system is able to see through dense smoke and darkness to identify hot spots, flames and temperature differences. The information is transmitted in real time via satellite to fire incident commanders on the ground to aid them in allocating firefighting resources.
NASA mission managers said a second imaging flight may be launched on Thursday, Oct. 25.
Satellite images of the Southland fires can be viewed on NASA’s Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/socal_wildfires_oct07.html

Mark Walker feels like a hostage.
He lives in Waterman Canyon, along with 62 other families, he said. Because the CHP has closed Highway 18 above 40th Street in San Bernardino, he has remained at home. Other neighbors who had left are not being allowed to return.
"What are we supposed to do?" he said. "It's been a couple of days and we are running out of food."
Walker said he spoke with a CHP officer who told him that authorities are concerned about potential looters taking advantage of the evacuated homes.
"But they could check our licenses and see we live here, and we aren't in danger from the fire," he said. "It's not right."
Walker's employer has allowed him to stay home, but he is not getting paid, he said.
-- George Watson

WASHINGTON (AP) — California authorities and FBI agents searched a home Wednesday as part of an arson
investigation into one of the wildfires devastating Southern California, a law enforcement official said.

The search was conducted in Orange County by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, the official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing, would not say what was
taken.

“FBI Los Angeles is assisting Orange County fire officials and sheriff’s office in an ongoing investigation into the source
of some of the fires,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said. He referred all other questions to local authorities.

The fires, now in their fourth day, have destroyed at least 1,500 homes and caused at least a half-million people to flee, in what has become the largest evacuation in state history. At least 1,200 damaged homes were in San Diego County, which is just south of Orange County, and officials believe that number will rise.

Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 others have been injured. One person was killed by the flames, and the San
Diego medical examiner’s officer listed five other deaths as connected to the blazes.

Thousands of people remained in emergency shelters, where many had an agonizing wait to find out whether their
homes had survived.

Crafton Hills College closed its doors at 1 p.m. today and will remain closed through Oct. 26. Additional information on CHC can be obtained by calling (909) 794-2161 or by visiting www.craftonhills.edu.
The Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District will be closed Oct. 25 and 26. Parents are welcome to pick up their students today, if necessary. More information can be obtained by calling (909) 797-0174.
-- Kristina Hernandez

The size of the Slide Fire has grown to 10,152 acres, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller.
-- Stacia Glenn

Court buildings in San Bernardino will be closed the rest of the day today and Thursday due to soot and ash causing hazardous breathing conditions. All jury service and courtroom appearances scheduled both days have also been cancelled.
The following court buildings will be closed:
- 303 West Third Street, San Bernardino
- 351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino
- 900 East Gilbert Street, San Bernardino
- 860 East Gilbert Street, San Bernardino
- 790 South Gifford Street, San Bernardino
- 175 West Fifth Street, San Bernardino
- 172 West Third Street, San Bernardino
- 401 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino

Information: Jury service information, (866) 402-5879, toll free; (909) 884-1858, local; Tressa Kentner, court executive officer, (909) 948-4512.

Some residents on Fredalba Road near Running Springs are using tools from their garages to shut down water mains in the neighborhood to help increase water pressure in the houses of those who stayed behind.
Many helped battle the blaze yesterday, using garden hoses to ward off flames that were burning a path toward the houses. Neighbors pitched in to save one dog who had been left behind in a dog carrier. The dog is safe and being kept in a nearby garage.
Several spot fires continue to burn in the area and heavy smoke is sweeping through, worsening air quality for people. No firefighters appear to be in the area.
Residents are walking to St. Anne's Catholic Church to get water.

-- Stacia Glenn

U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller takes on a tour of what he has seen in the fire zone over the last 24 hours:
At 10 p.m. Tuesday night, I was driving along on Highway 18 and I did see some fire just east of Heaps Peak Transfer Station, which residents call "the dump," near the radio tower.
There is some spotting near Pali Mountain Group Camp and continuous fire atop the ridgeline above Arrowbear.
There is also fire near Snow Drift, which is close to Snow Valley ski resort.

This morning at "the dump," smoke was laying down.
"I couldn't see past the end of my nose," Miller said.

-- Stacia Glenn

U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller takes on a tour of what he has seen in the fire zone over the last 24 hours:
At 10 p.m. Tuesday night, I was driving along on Highway 18 and I did see some fire just east of Heaps Peak Transfer Station, which residents call "the dump," near the radio tower.
There is some spotting near Pali Mountain Group Camp and continuous fire atop the ridgeline above Arrowbear.
There is also fire near Snow Drift, which is close to Snow Valley ski resort.

This morning at "the dumpe," smoke was laying down.
"I couldn't see past the end of my nose," Miller said.

-- Stacia Glenn

Per the Associated Press:
If guacamole prices are higher when the Super Bowl rolls around in February, blame the fires in Southern California.
Emergency officials say 20,000 acres of avocado trees in northern San Diego County have been lost, at least a third of the state’s crop, with another 15,000 acres threatened by flames.
In California, about 62,000 acres are planted with avocados and the industry is worth about $276 million annually, said state agricultural officials.
“If they can survive the fire, they can still harvest later,” said state Department of Agriculture spokesman Jay Van Rein, but if the trees are lost, growers will have to replant their orchards and wait years to harvest again.
-- George Watson

San Bernardino County has put together a very helpful Web site full of information.
Go to:
http://www.sbcounty.gov/evocdata.asp
-- George Watson

The California School Employees Association is offering financial assistance to eligible public school employees who suffered damages from this week's fires.
CSEA members who have suffered losses of $2,500 or more may be eligible of up to $500 from the union's disaster fund.
For more information, call the CSEA Rancho Cucamonga office at (909) 466-1006 or 1-800-526-9297 or call the CSEA headquarters at 1-800-632-2128.
-- Wendy Leung

The San Bernardino City Unified School District has announced the closure of its schools until further notice due to the fires.
The district's child care centers have also been closed and all activities before and after school have been cancelled, according to the district's website. Rim of the World Unified School District has also announced the cancellation of classes until further notice.
-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Helga Watson of San Bernardino wanted to give a big "thank you" to her son Peter and family, her neighbor Roxy and family, and to firefighters for saving her home and her neighborhood, during the Little Mountain Fire that threatened over 40 homes Monday in the North End of San Bernardino.
Firefighters managed to extinguish a fire that started in Watson's backyard. Only her sprinklers and part of her backyard got damaged.
-- Michael Munoz

In East Highland, where Highland Avenue meets Highway 330, the air is chokingly thick.
The atmosphere is so thick and heavy that sometimes one can look up and stare directly at the noontime sun.
Every five to 10 minutes, residents hailing mostly from Highland and Running Springs mill about, some with their faces covered by masks, others with their eyes watering and a few more are coughing. Many woke with headaches from the heavy smoke this morning as the fire smolders on Harris Mountain, south of Highway 330.
But all are desperate for any information about their status homes and the Slide Fire’s progress.
The winds have died down, which is helpful in slowing the fire’s progress, but there is a down side to that - the smoke is settling heavily on Highland.
“The forecast is favorable but it could change at any moment,” said Frank Losekoot, county forester consultant for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
-- Matt Wrye

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced it will contribute $1 million to help victims and first responders of the Southern California wildfires.
A total of $500,000 will go to the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts, and $500,000 will assist local nonprofits based on specific need in the impacted areas.
"Southern California families, businesses and entire communities are in dire need of immediate aid and we wanted to begin to address that need as quickly as possible," said Janet Lamkin, President of Bank of America California. "This is the first in a series of resources Bank of America will provide to help Southern Californians during this time of need."
-- George Watson

The San Bernardino City Unified School District has canceled the California Cadet Corps Leadership's field trip to Camp Pendleton due to wildfires in San Diego County.
The event scheduled for this weekend will be rescheduled. However, a new date has yet to be set. Refunds will be available to students who are unable to attend the event on the rescheduled dates.
More information can be obtained by calling the district's Alternative Programs Department at (909) 880-6766.
-- Kristina Hernandez

Grand Terrace, which has several residents who own second homes in the mountains, is waiving RV parking restrictions for victims of the wildfires.
The city has regulations against street parking for RVs. The rules can be lifted for people who need to park their vehicles on the street because they were displaced from the mountains, Assistant City Manager Steve Berry said.
For more information, call the city at (909) 430-2201.
-- Stephen Wall

The San Bernardino Associated Governments has closed for the day because of the poor air quality conditions from the fires.
The organization, which is the council of governments and transportation planning agency for San Bernardino County, is located at 1170 W. 3rd Street in San Bernardino.
-- George Watson

A man displaced from the mountain wildfires died this morning after having a seizure the night before at the National Orange Show's evacuation center, officials said.
Daniel Carpenter, 36, of Crestline, collapsed Tuesday evening at the evacuation center, officials said. He was taken to Loma Linda Medical Center where he received treatment before dying at 8:35 a.m. today.
The county Coroner's Office is trying to determine whether smoke or anything else fire-related contributed to Carpenter's death, said spokeswoman Sandy Fatland. Carpenter had a pre-existing health condition that also may have contributed his death, Fatland said.
Witnesses told firefighters who responded to the scene than Carpenter had a seizure.
-- George Watson

Per the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON - Sen. Dianne Feinstein says local officials should start using zoning laws to keep residents from living in fire-prone areas.
Feinstein, who used to be a county supervisor and mayor in San Francisco, says the zoning authority that local governments have could limit catastrophic fires by keeping subdivisions out of dry areas prone to Santa Ana winds.
She also suggested California should establish a fire authority to help underwrite insurance in fire-prone areas — similar to what the state does for earthquake-prone areas.
Feinstein made the comments in a speech on the Senate floor this morning.
-- George Watson

Victims of the mountain wildfires can receive property tax relief, Treasurer-Tax Collector Dick Larsen said Wednesday.
Eligible property owners can file to have their properties reassessed and can postpone their Dec. 10 property tax payment without penalty until a revised bill is issued.
For more information, visit www.mytaxcollector.com or call (909) 387-8308.
-- Stephen Wall

RUNNING SPRINGS - Grins spread across the faces of Lakeport fire crew at the thought of shower spray hitting their faces, washing them clean of the thick smoke and dirt that has coated them since Monday at midnight.
A frantic call came over the radio interrupted their thoughts and made their first break nonexistant.
A tan two-stor home at 30444 Live Oak Drive was fully engulfed in flame and they were the closest engine.
"It was fully involved when we got here so there wasn't much to save," said Lakeport Fire District Captain Rick Bergem.
Fire gutted the inside of the house and incinerated the second story. A melted purple bicycle lay on the front porch. Loud popping noises filled the air as .22 caliber ammunition went off in the burning house.
A Sonoma strike team jumped in to help as the fire spread beneath decks and roofs on neighboring houses. The firefighters managed to save the other homes, save a green staircase next door.

-- Stacia Glenn

HESPERIA - A man arrested Tuesday on suspicion of starting a fire by Highway 173 was identified this morning as 48-year-old John Alfred Rund of Hesperia, sheriff’s officials said.
Rund has not been linked to the Slide or Grass Valley fires because a cause has not been determined in either of those fires. Deputies booked Rund into West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of arson.
California Highway Patrol officers Chris Denkers and Bill Hatcher were handling wildfire traffic control on Highway 173 at Arrowhead Lake Road about 8 p.m. when someone told them a brush fire was starting nearby. The area is in the Mojave River Forks Regional Park in an unincorporated area east of Hesperia.

By The Associated Press
Major wildfires burning in California, by county:
San Bernardino County
* Slide Fire: More than 4,000 acres in Green Valley Lake area of the San
Bernardino Mountains, east of Lake Arrowhead. 15 percent
contained. At least 200 homes destroyed.
* Grass Valley Fire: More than 1,000 acres in Grass Valley area northwest of
Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. 5 percent
contained. At least 100 homes destroyed.
* An estimated 10,000 homes in the mountain resort communities around both
fires are threatened. Thousands of residents and a hospital evacuated.

San Bernardino Valley College will be closed for classes today, according to the San Bernardino Community College District.
Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa remains open.

SAN BERNARDINO -- Lutz Zellman wanted to go back up the mountain, he said, as he took drags on a cigarette at a fire evacuation center.
He would have stayed and fought for his home, Zellman said, looking wistfully at the mountains.
Cedar Glen was a ghost town, said Rose Zellman, with her husband nearby. The couple had held out to the last minute before being forced to leave.

SAN BERNARDINO - The U.S. Postal Service has set up a temporary post office at San Bernardino International Airport for mountain evacuees to pick up their mail.
Mountain residents may get mail from 1 to 4 p.m. today at 195 Del Rosa Ave., the same facility used during the 2003 wildfires, said Postal Service spokesman Mike Cannone.
The temporary office is for residents from Blue Jay, Cedar Glen, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Rimforest, Running Springs, Skyforest, Twin Peaks and Green Valley Lake.
Residents should bring a picture identification to obtain their mail, Cannone said.
The Postal Service has received unconfirmed reports that the post office at Green Valley Lake was damaged by the fire. There was mail left in the building Monday when it was evacuated, Cannone said.
Beginning Thursday, evacuees may pick up their mail from the temporary office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Visibility on the 210 Freeway through San Bernardino and Highland is less than a mile due to smoke and haze.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Slide Fire has burned 5,119 acres to date, fire officials said this morning.
Estimated cost of the Slide Fire is $1.5 million.
A total of 200 homes and three other structures have burned.
-- Jason Pesick

Cal State San Bernardino will remain closed for classes through Friday, but will re-open for Friday evening events, as well as classes and all other scheduled events on Saturday Sunday.
Classes, labs, meetings and events scheduled for Wednesday through Friday are canceled to allow Cal State personnel to assess campus conditions and repair wind-related damage, remove fallen trees and assure that air quality meets required environmental standards in campus buildings.
University personnel needed to assist in clean up and other essential operations will be on campus throughout the week.
Operations remain open at Cal State's Palm Desert campus throughout the week, except for televised classes originating from San Bernardino.
The campus will resume normal operations on Monday, Oct. 29.
For periodic updates, check the university's emergency hotline at (909) 537-5999 and the Cal State news Web site at http://news.csusb.edu.

Firefighters this morning estimated another 10 structures were destroyed in Running Springs overnight, but they hope diminishing Santa Ana winds will help them in the fight against the Slide and Grass Valley blazes today.
Flames moving southwest on the Slide Fire continued to threaten homes in Running Springs. While dry conditions and Santa Ana winds are expected this morning, firefighters expect a shift in the winds this afternoon. Flames moving north and northeast also threatened the community of Arrowbear, fire officials said.
On the Grass Valley blaze, a 30-acre spot fire broke out on the southwest corner of the fire, but fire officials, who had built fire lines around the blaze don’t expect it to get out of control.
Firefighters are hoping to keep the blaze east of Miller Canyon and plan to set up fire lines on the west side of the blaze. Many of the firefighters working in the mountains will be shifted to Grass Valley to get a handle on the blaze in the next day or so.
Seven helicopters are expected to be used in the fires today. Air tankers and other aircraft will be shared between the mountain fires and other fires in the region.
The 300-acre Cajon Fire, which ignited Monday morning near the 15 Freeway and Kenwood Avenue in Devore, was 85 percent contained. Fifty-three firefighters worked to put out hot spots, according to Inciweb.com.
-- Jason Pesick

Firefighters this morning estimated another 10 structures were destroyed in Running Springs overnight, but they hope diminishing Santa Ana winds will help them in the fight against the Slide and Grass Valley blazes today.
Flames moving southwest on the Slide Fire continued to threaten homes in Running Springs. While dry conditions and Santa Ana winds are expected this morning, firefighters expect a shift in the winds this afternoon. Flames moving north and northeast also threatened the community of Arrowbear, fire officials said.
On the Grass Valley blaze, a 30-acre spot fire broke out on the southwest corner of the fire, but fire officials, who had built fire lines around the blaze don’t expect it to get out of control.
Firefighters are hoping to keep the blaze east of Miller Canyon and plan to set up fire lines on the west side of the blaze. Many of the firefighters working in the mountains will be shifted to Grass Valley to get a handle on the blaze in the next day or so.
Seven helicopters are expected to be used in the fires today. Air tankers and other aircraft will be shared between the mountain fires and other fires in the region.
The 300-acre Cajon Fire, which ignited Monday morning near the 15 Freeway and Kenwood Avenue in Devore, was 85 percent contained. Fifty-three firefighters worked to put out hot spots, according to Inciweb.com.
-- Jason Pesick

According to the Associated Press, property damage from this week’s devastating Southern California wildfires has reached at least $1 billion in San Diego County alone, officials said Wednesday.
“Clearly, this is going to be a $1 billion or more disaster,” Ron Lane, San Diego County’s director of emergency services, told reporters during a news conference.

Elsewhere in Southern California, exhausted firefighters and weary residents looked forward Wednesday to a break — an expected slackening of the fierce wind that has fanned the state’s explosive wildland blazes since the weekend. Frustration over the firefighting effort began to emerge Tuesday when a fire official said not enough had been done to protect homes.

A Red Flag warning remains in effect in the Inland Empire until this evening, promising firefighters another busy day.

I woke this morning around 5:30 a.m. at my Highland home to the taste of smoke on my teeth. The stench was thick.
Having been stationed in the mountains during the Old Fire, I knew this was a bad sign. I looked out the window and saw a crimson haze upon the furtherst ridge I could see. Smoke filled the air around my house, creating an odd glow around the street lights. Clearly, far more smoke had descended on the community from the night before.
I drove up to the northeastern corner of the East Highlands Ranch but could not see flames. A security guard with the Ranch told me that the fire is not moving too quickly, but it was a few ridges away from where we were. He has a home in Running Springs, but he has been staying in a hotel.
He doesn't know if he still has a house anymore.
Firefighters may start a backburn nearby to try and stop the blazes advances., the guard said.
He shook his head. The danger to East Highlands Ranch seems much worse this time than it did in 2003, he said.
-- George Watson

The blaze continued moving west overnight and may possibly threaten the Lake Arrowhead Boy Scout Camp today, fire officials said. The Slide remains a threat to communities near Running Springs on the east as it moves up a slope.

-- Jason Pesick

Ontario fire engineer Wayne Daunis stood in a thick cloak of smoke on Live Oak Drive in Running Springs just before dawn this morning, two fire engines parked in the street behind him.

He was among the firefighters from eight engine companies who helped protect threatened homes on this winding road between Highway 18 and Highway 330 from 4 p.m. Tuesday until today. Fire came within yards of some of the dozens of homes dotting Live Oak Drive.

"The main focus last night was keeping it (fire) out of the (tree) canopy and on the ground," said Daunis. "The wind helped us out by staying down. We didn't have that much wind last night."

Concern centered on the fire ascending pine trees, igniting the tops and then the wind fanning the flames to neighboring trees.

Things got most hectic between 5 p.m. and midnight Tuesday, Daunis said. Fire crept under the porches of two evacuated homes, and firefighters had to force entry into them to douse the blazes.

At one house, where the fire crept into the basement, firefighters used an ax to cut a hole through the outside wall so firefighters could access the basement and extinguish the fire, Daunis said.

"We thought we were going to lose the house," Daunis said.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

A 48-year-old Hesperia is being detained at the sheriff's Victor Valley Jail on suspicion of starting a vegetation fire on Highway 173 in an unincorporated area of Hesperia, then fleeing on a motorcycle.

An infrared camera mounted to the bottom of a sheriff's helicopter flying over the area the man was suspected to have fled was credited for leading deputies to the man, who was holed up in his home on Highway 173, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

The man is not being named because he has not been arrested.

About 9:20 p.m., the California Highway Patrol received a call from someone reporting a brush fire on Highway 173, north of Highway 138 and south of the Mojave Forks Campground. CHP officers arrived to find several people attempting to douse the flames. They said they saw a man crouched on the ground and starting a fire, then flee on a red motorcycle, Beavers said.

Deputies searched the area and found the man inside his home. It was unclear if anyone else lived with him at the residence.

The sheriff's arson/bomb unit investigated, but no information was divulged about any evidence that may have been found.

Beavers said it was too soon to say if the incident is connected to the Grass Valley and Slide fires burning in the mountains.

"There hasn't been any discussion of any cause of the Grass Valley and Slide fires," said Beavers, "It's definitely too early in this investigation to say if there's any possibilities of a connection with anything else."

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

Firefighters continued their efforts overnight to protect homes on Live Oak Drive from destruction as flames from the Slide Fire crept toward homes.

Fire engines trundled up and down the winding road between Highway 18 and Highway 330 just before midnight. Hoses extended from some, and firefighters stood along the side of the road watching flames dance in the stands of trees and brush behind homes.

Even more homes and structures could burn.

"The only concern we have is down below Running Springs," said Dan Kleinman, deputy incident commander of the Slide Fire for the U.S. Forest Service. "We got more trucks out there than last night. The radio's quiet, though, and that's good."

He said more resources are expected to be moving in from other parts of the state and even outside the state today to assist in battling both the Grass Valley and Slide fires.

He said the fire is still burning about two to three miles north of Highland, and the rate of speed has been slower than expected.

As they usually do during such large-scale wildland fires, commanders put in place an incident action plan for firefighters assigned to protect homes and fight the fire overnight. The objective: To prevent fires from spreading to the communities of Green Valley Lake, Running Springs, Arrowbear, Grass Valley, Deerlodge Park, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Twin Peaks, keep the fires west of the Butler II Fire, keep the blazes south of the Holcomb Creek drainage basin and to keep the fire north of Highway 18 and east of Lake Gregory Drive.

Afternoon winds today are expected to die down and humidity is expected to increase, which would prove very favorable to firefighters, said Cathleen Thompson of the U.S. Forest Service. A low pressure system may start to develop off the coast as well, but this morning it's expected to be gusty and windy, she said.

While no containment has been declared on either fire, Thompson said that with favorable weather conditions, perhaps firefighters can get some line around the fire today, at least with the Grass Valley Fire.

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

Anxious residents forced down the mountain have at least one way to
keep tabs on their homes and ease their worried minds. California
Highway Patrol officer Wally Wood kept a close eye on his home and on
his neighbors homes. The off-duty officer said he had been getting
calls from worried friends and neighbors most of the day asking if
their home was safe.

"It's been upredictable most of the day," Wood said as he watched the
flames and flickering embers in the canyon a few feet away from his
home. The officer has been hosing down some of the vegetation near
his and neighbors homes when he could. Tuesday night was the fifth
time he had been evacuated from his Running Springs home. The last
time he was evacuated was during the Old Fire.

In the wake of the devastating Grass Valley and Slide fires, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has reached out to the American Red Cross with offers of assistance, providing meals for evacuees being housed at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino.

About 2,000 people are temporarily being housed or have registered at the shelter, said John Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

On Monday, more than 1,700 meals were served at the shelter. About 2,700 meals were served Tuesday evening, and officials plan to serve 3,000 breakfasts and 3,000 lunches Wednesday.

The tribe has also offered 100 cots to the Orange Show for evacuees to use, and one fire truck and crew from the San Manuel Fire Department assisted with fire suppression efforts in Lake Arrowhead

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

HESPERIA - An unidentified man was being detained late Tuesday for attempting to light a possible arson fire at the Mojave River Forks Campground near Highway 173 and Arrowhead Lake Road in Hesperia, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.
About 8:50 p.m., a woman driving past the Mojave Forks Campground, witnessed “a subject crouched down and then she saw fire,” Beavers said.
The woman immediately called the police, Beavers said, thus alerting and Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers who were in the area setting up roadblocks.
Officers found the male suspect on a motorcycle at a nearby mini-market on Arrowhead Lake Road.
The man has not yet been arrested but the incident is being investigated, Beavers said.
--Selicia Kennedy-Ross

My colleague Gina Tenorio and I headed out to Live Oak Canyon Drive where flames were threatening homes.

My colleague Gina Tenorio and I headed out to Live Oak Canyon Drive where flames were threatening homes.

A power outage is being reported in a North San Bernardino neighborhood near Lynwood and Del Rosa.
A commercial plaza that includes two bars, a beauty shop and Terry's Liquor store have all been without power since about 3 p.m. Tuesday after a nearby power line went down.
"We can't use our refrigerators, our freezers or cash registers," said Lois Craig, the owner of Greenbriar Bar and Restaurant in the business complex, late Tuesday.
"We got evacuated from our home in Lake Gregory last night," Craig said. "We figured we could stay here but there's no power here. I called (Southern California Edison) and they told us there were 1,800 people affected by this."
Craig said she was puzzled about why it was taking so long to restore the power, especially since she could see a crew working outisde. She said earlier in the day, power workers blocked off the street, turned off all the power, cut the wire and left.
"I called them three different times," she said. "They told us they didn't know when power was going to come back on."

The parking lot at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead was filled to capacity tonight with fire engines, police cars and news vans. Hungry firefighters filled up on heaping helpings of fried chicken, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, vegetables and hot coffee.

With a shift in resources on the battling of the Grass Valley and Slide fires, which together have burned more than 5,000 acres and destroyed more than 300 homes in Lake Arrowhead, Green Valley Lake and Running Springs since they started about 5 and 8 a.m. on Monday, the command center for these resources also shifted from Mary Putnum Henck Intermediate School to the high school.

The high school was bustling with activity as firefighters prepared to head out to the frontline of the fires or carry out myriad other duties in relation to the firefighting efforts.

Firefighters filed through the enclosed hallways, where classrooms were converted into information centers and sleeping quarters and hallways into dining rooms.

Two teams, a regional and a national, are tackling the fires, with the national team battling the Grass Valley Fire near Lake Arrowhead and the regional team the Slide Fire that burned through parts of Running Springs and Green Valley Lake and is now threatening the city of Highland.

"We're getting briefed - what's happened until now and what to expect in the next couple of days. We're getting our marching orders and assignments," said Larry Ames, a park ranger for the Bureau of Land Management's Ukiah office, about 120 miles north of San Francisco. He left home at 7 a.m. Tuesday and arrived in Lake Arrowhead about 6 p.m., he said.

He's one of many people who have chipped in to help fight wildfires across Southern California. There are 15 burning.

"They're coming from all over the country," said Ames of the firefighters and other resources.

His job will be to run a "trapline," which is disseminating information on the fire by posting it on plywood bulletin boards in grocery stores, post offices and other public places. Fire information will also be posted on the website Inciweb.org, a national fire information site with links to the various wildland fires currently occurring in the U.S.

Ames was impressed with some of the equipment deployed to the command center including what he calls "mobile offices," which are trailers equipped with copy machines, fax machines, computers, plotters and Geographic Information Systems technology.

"Firefighting has gone high-tech, so we need these things," Ames said.

Outside, a white trailer with "Frontline Medical" emblazoned across it sat parked on the grass, exclusively for treating firefighters suffering from minor injuries or in need of some eye drops, nasal spray or chapstick. An electric Jack-O-Lantern glowed and grinned in the window.

"We cover all the comfort stuff, but our primary thing is to treat and triage as many minor injuries as we can," said paramedic D.J. Cline, whose private Frontline Medical company contracts with the U.S. Forest Service for the Slide and Grass Valley fires. "We're saving that ER time and getting them (firefighters) back on the frontline where they belong."

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

Things seem to be winding down a bit in the Green Valley Lake area, though a handful of homes still continue to burn and flames have worked their way through the brush and down to Green Valley Lake Road.
There is no sign of any residents, with the exception of one man who has hunkered down in the water district building with a blow-up raft shoved in the corner. Several fire engines swept the city looking for spot fires and two sheriff's vehicles prowled the neighborhoods looking for anyone who may have chosen to stay behind.
On Green Valley Lane, a cluster of three homes have burned. One of the addresses is 33653 Green Valley Lane. The other addresses could not be found.
Similar conditions existed on Meadow Lane, where a home at 33809 Meadow Lane succombed to the blaze.
What appears to be a business has also been destroyed at the corner of Green Valley Lake Road and -- Angeles Drive.

-- Stacia Glenn

All schools in the San Bernardino City Unified School District will remain closed Wednesday including San Bernardino Adult School. This includes all athletic practices, extracurricular activities and child care centers due to smoke and wind conditions and continuing fire risk.
The following private schools will be closed Wednesday: Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Anthony’s, Aquinas High School, Our Lady of Rosary, St. Adelaide's, Banner Elementary, San Bernardino Christian, North Point Christian, Clare Cherry, St. Catherines in Rialto and Sacred Heart in Redlands.
San Bernardino Valley College closed at 4 p.m. Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday as will California State University, San Bernardino.
Currently, there are about 2,000 fire evacuees at the National Orange Show Events Cente. An animal shelter has been opened at the National Orange Show Events Center for evacuees with animals. For mroe information, call (909) 888-1481.

ABOVE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (AP) — Just after 7 a.m. the helicopter lifts off and we head east over San Diego into a blood red sun and a sheen of smoke so thick the horizon seems to have vanished.

We are 12 miles north of the Mexico border, at the edge of the first of more than a dozen fires that have turned much of Southern California into a hellish inferno — “Armageddon,” as one firefighter described it.

Armageddon, on this Tuesday morning, is Sweetwater Reservoir reflecting a fiery orange sky in its once pristine blue waters. A snake of flames curling its way around Mount San Miguel, deserted of the hikers and bikers who would usually dot its slopes. Columns of smoke painting the sky an alarming rainbow of colors, jet-black turning to white and finally gray, even green.

Even from our vantage point, some 400 feet above the flames, I can feel the heat from the ground below and hardly fathom how unbearable it must seem to the thousands of firefighters hard at work around the region on a day when temperatures approached 100 degrees in some places.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The BYU-San Diego State football game scheduled for Saturday night has been postponed until Dec. 1 because Qualcomm Stadium is being used as an evacuation center for residents displaced by wildfires.

Business owners who want to make large financial donations should call (800) 750-2858.

The hot line will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Major wildfires burning in California, by county:

San Bernardino County

Slide Fire: More than 4,000 acres in Green Valley Lake area of the San Bernardino Mountains, east of Lake Arrowhead. At least 125 homes destroyed, 400 homes threatened and several communities evacuated.

Grass Valley Fire: More than 1,000 acres in Grass Valley area northwest of Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. At least 300 homes destroyed, 10,000 homes threatened. Many
mountain resort communities and a hospital evacuated.

James Blair of Cedarpines Park had just pulled into Calvary Chapel Lake Arrowhead on Monday night when he spotted a suspicious looking man.
Blair said the pastor asked him to look after the church and shortly after 6:30 p.m., he pulled into the church property he drove toward an area with a basketball court near some classrooms.
As Blair parked he spotted a man, whom he described as "in his mid-50s, bald and sketchy-looking." The man was also wearing a denim jacket.
As he opened his door, Blair said he spooked the man, who ran into the forest leaving behind a five-gallon gas can.
"Either the guy was ripping stuff off or he's a pyro," said Blair, who reported the story to deputies at the Twin Pines Sheriff's station.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona has assembled a firefighting force of nearly 200 to help California battle deadly and
destructive wildfires.

Spokesman Cliff Pearlberg of the Arizona Land Department says Flagstaff, Lakeside, St. Johns, Elfrieda, Golden Ranch and Rio Rico are sending crews to California.

The Slide Fire looks to be descending toward Highland.
From Greenspot Avenue, reporter Louis Amestoy says it looks like the blaze is about two miles from reaching into the outskirts of the East Highlands Ranch.
-- George Watson

LAKE ARROWHEAD - It was still dark Monday when Sheriff’s deputies woke residents on Sonoma Drive telling them to evacuate but neighbors Scott Garrett and Martin Daniel already knew what they would do.

And it wasn’t flee.

Firefighters warned them to leave, but Martin, 46, and Garrett, 48, refused. Martin sent his family away to safety and the two men formed a plan.

As wind-whipped flames crept closer to the valley, hundreds of East Highlands Ranch residents were asked to voluntarily evacuate Tuesday.
Residents east of Highway 330, north of Highland Avenue and west of Weaver Street were told to make preparations in case the roaring Santa Ana winds changed direction and flames rushed down the mountain toward their homes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush mobilized the federal emergency assistance establishment Tuesday on behalf of Southern California officials struggling with devastating wildfires that are forecast to get bigger.

Bush briefly departed from his scheduled war on terror speech at the National Defense University to offer prayers for those losing houses and businesses — or about to.

Meteorologist Valerie Meyers said that winds are still expected to linger in the area throughout the night.

But by Wednesday morning, the winds are expected to give way to a low-pressure system that is more favorable to firefighters. The low-pressure system is expected to raise humidity.

It was announced less than an hour ago by the U.S. Forest Service that more than 300 homes have burned up in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Lake Arrowhead Village is deserted, save for a few firefighters scattered about.
The entire city is now under evacuation.
Despite the fact the shopping center is all but empty, operators left the sound system on, which is playing oldies,
like "My Boyfriend's Back."

Fire officials said Tuesday night the Grass Valley Fire has not destroyed any further structures. On Wednesday, firefighters will try to put fire lines on the west side on the Grass Valley Fire, which has consumed more than 1,000 acres.
More than 100 structures were lost to the Slide Fire, which continues to be active below Running Springs, and has burned 4,000 acres.
--Jason Pesick

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) spoke to her peers on the Senate Floor Tuesday
At the time Feinstein's spoke, there were 14 large fires burning throughout California. According to Feinstein's office, as many as 500,000 people had been evacuated, and the fire had burned
more than 400 miles and in excess of 309,000 acres.
According to a release from Feinstein's office, Slide & Grass Valley Fires have comprehensively burned
1,800 acres, destroyed 450 homes and are threatening 1,900 structures.

At a cul-de-sac at the end of Hunsaker Drive, near downtown Running Springs, the Big Bear Hot Shots of the U.S. Fire Service started a backfire at 1 p.m. They have been working on it all afternoon, while also putting out hotspots in the area.

The cul-de-sac is in an area in between Running Springs and Green Valley Lake.

Smoke in the area is as thick as fog.

At least two flare-ups have just been reported inside the burn area of the Myers Fire also known as the Martin Ranch Fire, which scorched 80 acres and was 100 percent contained Tuesday.
The flare-ups occurred near Devil's Canyon inside the burn area, one is near the 1600 block of Martin Ranch Road was reported at 6:34 p.m.

Currently, the winds are calm on the 200 block of Fairway Drive near Twin Peaks where a nine-man hand crew of firefighters is battling hot spots on the eastern edge of the Grass Valley Fire in a canyon about 200 yards below.
Eric Petterson, division supervisor for the U.S. Forest Service, stood behind a white house stained pink with fire redardant that was spared from the flames. Patches of scorched vegetation, however, were visible at the rear of the home.
“The winds have held off so the (fire) behavior is signifigantly moderated today," Petterson said. "We’re still short on resources so it still has a lot of open line and it still has a lot of potential.”
Petterson also said the firefighters still need more bulldozers or hand crews to cut line.
However, he is confident in the line between the fire and Grass Valley and Lake Arrowhead areas but if the wind picks up the fire could blow downwind, which was at the time, blowing lightly toward the Crestline area.
--Andrew Edwards

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Chargers don’t know where or when they’ll play their next game.

While they spent Monday taking care of their families and trying to find out if their homes survived the wildfires
sweeping Southern California, the Chargers were busy Tuesday preparing to fly to Phoenix to practice at the Arizona Cardinals’ suburban headquarters.

That means three days of hotels and bus rides and an unfamiliar workplace while wondering what’s going on back
home.

“How we handle that will have an impact on how it turns out on Sunday,” quarterback Philip Rivers said.

It’s a drill familiar to some Chargers.

Four years ago to the week, the Chargers were forced to move a Monday night game to Tempe, Ariz., on short notice because of deadly wildfires.

Arrowhead United Way has established relief fund to help those who’ve been affected by the wildfires in the Lake Arrowhead and Green Valley Lake area. The relief fund is designed to provide emergency assistance to people who are unable to get immediate help from existing assistance programs.
The United Way has agreed to match funds up to a total of $10,000. Checks can be made out to the Wildfire Relief Fund 2007 and mailed to Arrowhead United Way, 646 North D Street, San Bernardino, CA, 92401. All money be utilized to assist those affected by the wildfires, with no administrative fee withheld.
For more information, call the Arrowhead United Way at 909-884-9441.
--Michael Munoz

Public school employees affected by the wildfires could be eligible for immediate financial assistance from the California School Employees Association (CSEA).
CESA staff and leaders are currently surveying shelters and disaster centers to help with aid efforts to provide financial assistance to CSEA members. Up to $1,000 for temporary housing, food, clothing and other necessities will be given on the spot, once memebership status is verfied. Members must show some sort of evidence that their primary residence is unihabitable.
Members of CSEA who suffer losses of $2,500 or more could be eligible for a grant from the union’s disaster fund, if their insurance or another financial source could not cover costs. Applications to this disaster fund will be reviewed by a committee.
CSEA is also establishing a volunteer resource bank where members can connect with other members to provide resources such as storage space, moving vehicles or temporary housing.
Members can obtain more information, immediate assistance and/or a grant application form by contacting their local chapter president, the CSEA Rancho Cucamonga Field Office at (909)466-1006 or (800)526-9297. They can also call CSEA headquarters toll-free at (800)632-2128.
--Michael Munoz

Fire and smoke has made Green Valley Lake Drive off of Highway 18 impossible to travel on.

The drive is four miles long, but can only be traveled up to 1/2 a mile before fire and smoke take over the roadway.

The Slide Fire is heading toward Cedar Glen, much of which burned in the Old Fire in 2003 so the fuel is not as rich there. The Grass Valley Fire is headed toward Miller Canyon, near Lake Silverwood which has not burned in several years.
"The Slide Fire seems to be much more aggresive, there's spotting Rimwood Ranch," said Jennifer Smith, spokeswoman for the U. S. Fire Service.

The Slide Fire is heading toward Cedar Glen, much of which burned in the Old Fire in 2003 so the fuel is not as rich there. The Grass Valley Fire is headed toward Miller Canyon, near Lake Silverwood which has not burned in several years.
"The Slide Fire seems to be much more aggresive, there's spotting Rimwood Ranch," said Jennifer Smith, spokeswoman for the U. S. Fire Service.

All mountain communities west of Snow Valley are under a mandatory evacuation order.

Residents west of Snow Valley (except the communities of Cedar Pines Park and Valley of Enchantment) should evacuate immediately and not wait to be told to leave.

California Highway Patrol officers are urging people to take Highway 18 and not State Route 330.

While Twin Peaks has been evacuated, Kishore Ramlagan decided to stay behind and help.

Ramlagan, owner of the 5 Point General Store at 26745 Highway 189, has kept the store open for emergency service workers and remaining residents.

Ramlagan has a Subway shop in the store and let emergency workers come in and make sandwiches as well as drink coffee, all for free.

“It’s not the money, it’s more of a community service,” Ramlagan said.

He also said a lot of people have stopped by to get gas.

Bill Sapp, an official with the fire information hot line, said the Slide Fire was possibly started by a downed power line.

In the past hour, fire damaged at least one house about a mile southeast from downtown Running Springs. Helicopters were able to save two or three houses in the area.

Also in the area, a cell phone tower near a small peak had been surrounded by fire for the past hour-and-a-half. The fire recently moved away from the tower and into a small canyon.

LOS ANGELES - The rich and famous of Hollywood couldn’t evade Southern California’s devastating fires. Production on TV series was disrupted and stars traded their beachfront homes for shelter in posh hotels.

Kelsey Grammer was among those who fled Malibu, the celebrity-favored oceanfront town that also is home to Mel Gibson, Cher, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Aniston, Mel Brooks, Ryan O’Neal and more.
Grammer made light of the evacuation for the sake of his 6-year-old, Mason.

“My daughter was nervous in the beginning,” he told the E! entertainment channel Monday. “I said, ‘Oh, honey, it’s nothing. Just relax. Come on, we’re going to have some fun.’ So she shined the flashlight around and we got out. ... We’re safe. We got the dog, we got the kids.”

His house remained untouched Tuesday, said his publicist, Stan Rosenfield.

“We evacuated Sunday morning before the order came because the conditions there were very frightening,” Promises founder and CEO Richard Rogg told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “The power went out, the winds were blowing at hurricane force and you could see flames coming over the mountain top.”

Rooms were booked for patients in an “upscale hotel” near the Promises facility in west Los Angeles, where staff members “regrouped and tried to keep the schedule going as normally as possible,” Rogg said.

Promises, which said its Malibu facility was undamaged Tuesday, does not disclose patient names.
Malibu resident Jane Seymour was sweeping across the stage Monday on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” while her husband, actor-director James Keach, protected their house.

- Associated Press

Residents from nine mountain communities effected by wildfires will be able to pick up their mail from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at a building located at 195 Del Rosa Ave. on the former Norton Air Force Base.
After Wednesday, mail will be available for pick-up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
John E. Platt, San Diego district manager for the U.S. Postal Service, has ordered mail to be transferred from the nine cities to down to the mail-pick up site.
Mail for the following cities and zip codes will be available to residents: Blue Jay, 92317, Cedar Glen, 92321, Crestline, 92325, Lake Arrowhead, 92352, Rimforest, 92378, Running Springs, 92382, Skyforest, 92385, Twin Peaks, 92391, and Green Valley Lake, 92341.
Residents are advised to bring proper photo identification when picking up mail.
Michael Munoz

Mail delivery from 12 post offices in San Bernardino and Riverside counties have been completely or partially curtailed due to the fires. Total non-deliveries expected today amount to 472, 800. That number was 249,097 on Monday.

Post offices unable to deliver some or all mail today include: Blue Jay, 92317; Cedar Glen, 92321; Crestline, 92325; Fawnskin, 92333; Green Valley Lake, 92341; Lake Arrowhead, 92352; Rimforest, 92378; Running Springs, 92382; Skyforest, 92385; and Twin Peaks, 92391.

Conditions will be reevaluated daily.

It's smoky, dark and windy in front of Rim of the World High School, where fire officials have set up the command center for the mountain fires. Behind the school, the sky is blue. It's a contrast.

The most reverend Bishop Gerald Barnes will celebrate a special Mass at 5 p.m. today on the grounds of the National Orange Show relief center, where fire evacuees are being sheltered.
Barnes is the head of the Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino is celebrating the Mass at the evacuation center to offer comfort to those there.
Three parishes in the diocese have been directly impacted by the fire including our Lady of the Lake in Lake Arrowhead, St. Anne in the Mountains in Running Springs and St. Francis Xavier Cabrini in Crestline, which were evacuated Monday.
Several Catholic schools in the diocese will be closed Wednesday including Aquinas High School, Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Anthony School in San Bernardino and St. Adelaide School in Highland.

Every community from Crestline to Snow Valley is now under mandatory evacuations.
Officials are calling for voluntary evacuations in Valley of Enchantment and Cedar Pines Park.
The Slide Fire is burning in several different directions because of shifting winds. Homes are burning. And the fire continues to burn south, down the hillside, fire officials said.
Grass Valley Fire is burning onto the Tunnel II Ridge. The next area threatened is Dart Canyon, although the blaze is not immmediately threatening structures.
-- Jason Pesick

Steve Hauer stood on the wooden deck of his family home on Live Oak Drive in Running Springs.
It was about 2:45 p.m., and he was talking into his mobile phone.
“They're saving it again," said Hauer, a retired law enforcement officer who lives in Highland." I don't believe it.”
He and his family rebuilt the house in 1969 after it burned down. They used steel for the roof and siding as a way to protect it from future fires.
It's a 5,200-square- foot cabin built on eight acres.
“It seemed to have weathered all of the fires because of the steel," he said. "We still have to make it through the night."
-- Stacia Glenn

The Slide fire has burned 4,000 acres and it has been confirmed that 25 confirmed homes have been burned in Green Valley Lake, and 400 homes are threatened.
In Running Springs, 100 homes are confirmed destroyed.
Skyforest has also been added to the mandatory evacuation list.
--Matt wrye

Evacuations are taking place at Mountains Community Hospital located off Highway 173 on the northeast side of Lake Arrowhead.
Heavy smoke is enveloping the hospital but the emergency room is staying open.
Ed Pallette, the hospital's chief of staff, said he anticipated having all patients out in about two hours.
“The sheriff says it’s time to go," he said. "We’ve been watching this for quite some time.”
Pallette said he was waiting for ambulances to take four acutely ill patients to Loma Linda University Medical Center. About a dozen more patients will be transported to a skilled nursing facility in Redlands.
The Slide Fire is visible to the east of the hospital but does appear to be moving toward the facility.
-- Andrew Edwards

Currently, a Type II team is managing both the Slide Fire and the Grass Valley Fire. The team is led by Bill Kagge, of the U.S. Parks Service.
The plan will be to hand over management of the Slide Fire at 6 a.m. Wednesday to a Type I team led by Jerry McGowan, who is with the U.S. Forest Service. Kagge would then manage the Grass Valley Fire.
-- Jason Pesick

By MICHELLE GARDNER
The Sun
Several local college events have been affected by the air quality
resulting from the fires.

San Bernardino Valley College has postponed its men's soccer game
against Rio Hondo scheduled for today. It will be played on Oct. 31
instead.

Cal State San Bernardino has changed its soccer doubleheader against
Cal State Los Angeles for a second time. The games are being moved to
Cal Poly Pomona which has not been affected by the fires. The games
will be played on Wednesday with the women's game at noon and the
men's game at 2:30.

SBVC closed down campus early Tuesday and will remain shut down
through Wednesday.

The Wolverines are scheduled to compete in the Foothill Conference
cross country meet Wednesday afternoon in Lancaster but that event is
still on for the moment. The school is still debating the status of
other events not slated for the SBVC campus. The volleyball team is
scheduled to play Wednesday at Rio Hondo, which has not been effected
by the fires.

By JOHN MURPHY
The Sun
Due to the wildfires in the mountain cities, the Rim of the World at Sultana football game Friday night almost certainly won't be played, Rim athletic director Dave Ochs said at noon today.
“Everything is on hold,” Ochs said. “I spoke to (Sultana athletic director) Pete Delagardelle today and it's 99 percent that we won't go down there this weekend. He understood. There are a lot of games around the state not being played, although I think the High Desert is all right.”
The Rim A.D. said that even if the Fighting Scots were suddenly to decide to play Friday or Saturday night, it would be a difficult task. He speculated that most of Rim's players are scattered around the state, living with extended family member or friends or with their own families in vacation homes.

An EMT crew from Los Angeles had been helping with some evacuations but when they came across a house on fire in Running Springs, the five men attacked it with garden hoses.
“We saw a garden hose and figured we may as well try," said Jeff Twycross, an EMT. "We figured if we could save a house, that's a little more important than family heirlooms.
He added, "iIts not like we came up here planning on doing this."
As much as they tried, the fire proved too much, eventually consuming the structure.
-- Stacia Glenn

The DC-10 continues to deliver it's considerable payload onto the fires burning in the San Bernardino Mountains.
-- George Watson

The entire Angeles National Forest and the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park are closed to hikers, mountain bikers and all other users due to high fire danger.
The closures will remain in effect until the extreme weather conditions that are fanning the Southern California fires subside. Violators are subject to fines and imprisonment.
In the Angeles National Forest, county roads and state highways, such as the Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2), will remain open to through traffic. However, drivers are urged to use extreme caution and to be aware of fire activity in the area.

Due to the wildfires and unhealthy air conditions, San Bernardino Valley College will be closing at 4 p.m. today and will remain closed through Wednesday.
Donna Hoffman, marketing and public relations director for the San Bernardino Community College District, said the decision was also made due to the closure of city schools and impact the fires are having on the school's students.
Hoffman said updated information on possible future closures can be find on the school's website at www.valleycollege.edu or by phone at (909) 384-4400.
-- Kristina Hernandez

Mountain Communty Hospital in Lake Arrowhead is being evacuated as a precaution, said Ralph Gonzales, a fire information officer.
It's not clear where patients will go, he said. It depends on availability of beds at other hospitals.
-- Jason Pesick

The new, unnamed spot fire northeast of Lake Arrowhead is no longer a problem, said Ralph Gonzales, fire information officer. He had no other information.
-- Andrew Edwards

Reporter Matt Wrye, stationed in Running Springs, drove about one-quarter mile down Pine Cone Drive from downtown.
At that point, he saw flames climbing the hill slowly, about 100 feet down. Apparently, the blaze is making its way back up the hill.
But helicopters were bombarding the fire with water every few minutes, slowing its advance.
-- George Watson

Redlands Unified School District has decided to close its four Highland-area schools on Wednesday.
All other Redlands Unified School District schools will remain open.
"Due to a voluntary evacuation notice received this afternoon by from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office for the areas east of Highland to Weaver, the Redlands Unified School District is closing its four Highland area schools; Beattie Middle School, Highland Grove, Cram, and Arroyo Verde for Wednesday only. Please monitor media announcement and the school district website for information regarding reopening on Thursday,“ the school district stated in a news release.
Transportation will still provide buses in Highland for REV students.
-- George Watson

A new fire has ignited northeast of Lake Arrowhead on the east side of Highway 173, said Ralph Gonzales, a fire information officer.
Authorities consider it to be a spot fire from the Grass Valley Fire.
A Type III engine and a hand crew with about 20 firefighers is there tackling the blaze.
Gonzales did not know the size of the fire.
-- Andrew Edwards

At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, San Bernardino City Unified School District officials decided to close city schools for Wednesday. It's the second day due to unhealthy air conditions caused from fires around the Inland Empire.
Linda Hill, spokeswoman for the district, said the decision was made based on information provided by local fire departments to district personnel.
Along with the closure of city schools, district run day care facilities will be closed and all outdoor activities, including sports practices, are canceled for the time being.
Updated information on the closures can be found by calling the district's emergency hotline at (909) 888-KIDS (5437). Recorded data is available in English and Spanish is updated as soon as information becomes available.
-- Kristina Hernandez

Smoke from the Slide Fire has darkened the sky, according to a witness on Lightfoot Way in Running Springs.
The witness cannot see any flames but the black smoke is moving quickly up Rim of the World Drive, which is parallel and below Lightfoot Way.
-- George Watson

So far, the Grass Valley Fire has burned 1,000 acres and destroyed 113 structures. It is burning at the northeast corner of Lake Gregory and is now moving northwest instead of southwest. Evacuations are in place for Lake Gregory and Crestline.
The Slide Fire has consumed 4,000 acres and more than 100 homes. It is burning on the southwest side of Highway 330 between Fredalba and Smiley Park. After cheading down Highway 330, it is reportedly now climbing back up the mountain.
The total number of fire personnel for both fires is 1,000.
Voluntary evacuations in Highland are also in place north of Highland Avenue, east of the 330 and west of Weaver.
The Myers Ranch Fire, also called the Martin Ranch Fire, south of Devore, is in the "mop-up" stage and is 100 percent contained. Two structures sustained minor damage and 80 acres were burned. Evacuations were lifted at 10 a.m. Firefighters are still mopping up some hot spots and an engine crew is patrolling the area due to wind gusts between 30 to 50 milies miles per hour.
The Cajon Fire is also 100 percent contained and mop up is taking place.
All road closures including Interstate 215, Little League Drive and Lytle Creek have been lifted and the roads are open to traffic.
-- Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Voluntary evacuations have been called for in parts of the East Highlands Ranch area, a county sheriff's dispatcher said.
The area being called for is north of Highland Avenue, east of Highway 330 and west of Weaver.
-- George Watson

Apparently, the Martin Ranch Fire has been renamed to now be called the Myers Ranch Fire.
-- George Watson

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now back at Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School, talking with Randy Clauson, incident commander division chief for U.S. Forest Service, regarding air operatiosn and evacuations in the Green Valley fire.
Clauson told governor he believed the winds would die down enough for firefighters to use aircraft, more so than on Monday.
So far, 15,000 have evacuated and there was immediate threat to at least 1,000 structures
Statewide, 750 homes have been lost and 18 firefighters injured. Schwarzenegger has visited four firefighters, who were being treated for severe burns.
“This is a tragedy what has happened to California, we have 16 fires right now," Schwarzenegger said during a press conference in Lake Arrowhead earlier today.
"Unlike previous emergencies and national disasters, everybody responded very quickly. I’ve seen some of the homes just now and it's sad, I’m just heartbroken. There are homes being destroyed right now, as we speak.”
Schwarzenegger took an aerial tour of the San Bernardino mountains to see the damage overlooking Grass Valley Lake, calling it "one of the biggest fires" he'd ever seen.
While the governor was there there, gas and water crews were attempting to shut off the gas lines and water mains.
On the 700 block of Brentwood, two gas fires in two homes were going at the same time, the loud 10-foot flames reflecting orange light off the shattered glass in front of the burned houses, surrounded by pine trees that were burnt to a crisp.
Rick Dever, operations foreman for Lake Arrowhead Community Services District, said the water agency was shutting off mains "right and left.”
-- Andrew Edwards

The one-year anniversary of the deadly Esperanza Fire is three days away and it haunts U.S. Forest Service firefighters as they struggle to control an unpredictable blaze.
“There's a certain personal aspect of it while we are out here fighting a fire, but we muscle up and do what needs to be done,” said Steve Seltzner, a U.S. Forest Service battalion chief as he fought back tears.
The Esperanza Fire ignited on Oct. 26, 2006, near Cabazon. It killed five firefighters who were overwhelmed by flames as they tried to defend a rural home. It burned more than 40,000 acres and destroyed 34 homes.
-- Stacia Glenn

Worried concern is the mood in East Highland Ranch, the exclusive community in the notheast section of Highland.
Jason Martinelli, who lives at the top of Randall Lane, watched as milky white smoke steadily billowed all morning just beyond the ridge towering over the four- to six-bedroom homes.
Residents here remember how the Old Fire of 2003 drove down to concrete fences ringing the housing tract.
“This one could get here, too," said Martinelli, whose neighbor to his north is the tinder-dry chaparral.
“We are a pretty tight-knit group up here," Martinelli said. "Most of us came into these houses when fire was a threat to burn them and ash was flying all around. We know how serious fire is."
But Martinelli admitted he had not yet packed or made any preliminary arrangements to flee.
He said the fire was well beyond the ridge and that only a shift in wind would send it angling toward his house and others.
“Last night, it was a big orange glow over the ridge," he said. "A lot of us came outside and looked but nobody left.”
-- Robert Rogers

The 80-acre Myers Ranch Fire was 100 percent contained this morning, and its cause is being called suspicious by fire officials. The blaze, which ignited northeast of the 215 Freeway close to the Western Regional Little League Stadium just before 1 a.m. was contained at 8:30 a.m., said San Bernardino city fire spokesman Tom Rubio. Fire investigators will need to look at several factors such as the weather, the type of vegetation involved in the blaze and the time of day to help determine the cause. Soil samples may even be analyzed.

Officials said 160 firefighters from San Bernardino city, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the U.S. Forest Service, and Colton and Rialto fire departments battled the blaze. They stopped the flames within 300 feet of several 3,000-square-foot homes.

-- Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The Slide Fire has charred between 3,000-to-4,000 acres and claimed more than 100 hundred homes in Running Springs and Green Valley Lake.
Fire officials said that number is a conservative estimate.
“We're in the midst of a real dogfight to save as many structures as we can,” said Steve Seltzner, a U.S. Forest Service battalion chief.
The fire is burning heavy timber at rapid rates, he said. No homes have been lost in Arrow Bear but there's an imminent threat.
“We're losing structures even as we speak,” he said.
Winds have picked up and are raining ash down on Highway 330.
Sometime this morning, the Slide Fire jumped Highways 18 and 330.
Flames are mostly in the Smiley Park area near Fredalba Road.
-- Stacia Glenn

Norma Cano watched helplessly as the Green Valley Lake cabin that had been in her family for the past 43 years burned down during a television news report.
"I saw it on TV and said 'that’s my cabin!'" she said. "It was on fire."
Cano, who lives in El Segundo and is the executive director of the Downotwn Rialto Business Improvement District Association, said her family visited the cabin on Holcomb Creek "as often as they could."
The home was built by her late husband, Ronald Edgar Cano, and late father-in-law, Edgar Cano. The family bought the property in 1964.
"Now the whole street is gone," Cano said.
"We will rebuild, we did have insurance. But it's all the memories that we have there."
She said her youngest son just repainted the cabin's exterior of the cabin and that the family had started some remodeling projects on it
Cano said she had planned to go up to the cabin last weekend but the timing made it impossible.
-- Selicia Kennedy-Ross

Chunks of ash the size of a person's palm are landing on Highway 30 just west of Del Rosa in San Bernardino.
They don't look to be dangerous because they aren't burning, but it's a good example of how far things can float in the wind.
-- Louis Amestoy

A 10-foot flame shot out of a broken gas line in the 700 block of Brentwood in the Grass Valley area this morning while members of media organizations and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the fire damage. Nearby was a melted gas meter and two houses that completely burned to the ground. Next door to the destroyed houses were another pair of structures left undamaged.
-- Andrew Edwards

Lloyd Harbeson stood in his backyard on West Meyers Road late this morning, hosing down the remnants of the Martin Ranch Fire at the outskirts of his and his neighbor's properties.
Like many residents here, Harbeson was up much of the night once fire trucks first arrived around 1:30 a.m. One of his neighbor had to go and evacuate his animals, he said.
"It isn't the flame that will get you," Harbeson said. "It's the smoldering."
He lost a couple of cars during the 2003 Old Fire, which destroyed several homes in the neighborhood.
He looked around and then mentioned that a developer is talking about building more homes, a fact that has locals here upset.
"This is a good example of why they don't need any more homes up here," Harbeson said.
-- Matt Wrye

More than 1,500 evacuees have registered at the Red Cross shelter at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, with hundreds camping in the parking lots, many in tents, motorhomes and even boats.
More than 2,000 people total were at the Orange Show mid-Tuesday morning.
Rob and Renee Hysell arrived at the Orange Show around midnight. Instead of braving the crowds and the military-style cots inside the Orange Show’s Damus Building, the Hysells, their two young children and two dogs caught some shut-eye in their 24-foot Seaswirl boat.
“It was kind of nice,” said Rob Hysell, who was forced to leave his home ahead of encroaching flames in Lake Gregory. “Considering the situation, it wasn’t so bad. A little cold, but nice.”
About 1,500 others bunked in the Damus Building and the smaller Dome Building next door. Accommodations were spare with fold-out cots on the concrete floor, but a host of social service providers including the Red Cross and county departments were on-hand. Also, private insurance providers State Farm and Farmers Insurance set up booths principally to get clients disaster relief checks for lodging and other needs.
Staff at Farmers Insurance estimated they had given temporary relief checks to about 70 people Tuesday morning.
The crowd was calm, with little of the unruliness that occurred four years ago during emergency services for the Old Fire.
Police on hand monitoring the crowd reported no incidents.

The Rialto Unified School District has canceled athletic events, but school is expected to remain in session the rest of the week unless fire conditions change. Heavy smoke is moving through the area, causing some concern from parents. District officials say they've notified parents that the conditions are being watched. Rialto High School students, meanwhile, are being advised to eat lunch indoors at the school's great hall or multi use room, said district spokeswoman Syeda Jafri.

--Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The 15 or so Arabian and Saddlebrede show horses didn't seem to mind the nearby smoke and fire this afternoon. They've grown accustomed to it, as have the 20 head of cattle on the 500-acre Long Point Ranch In Running Springs that has been in Christopher Harich's family for 57 years

"This is our fourth fire," said Harich. "We had the Bear Fire in '69, then the Mill Fire in '97, then the Old Fire, and now this fire."

The Mill Fire, Harich said, was much more perilous and destructive than the Slide Fire that destroyed about 100 homes in Running Springs late Monday night and early Tuesday when it crept into the city from Green Valley Lake, jumped Highway 18 and raced down the mountain past Highway 330.

"The Mill Fire burned right up to our house," said Harich, 35, wearing a yellow fire protective Nomex jacket and scarf around his neck. "It burned about 85 percent of our property. This has only burned about five acres."

The horses, he said, don't mind the fire and smoke one bit.

"It's their third fire. Horses adapt to it well," he said.

Harich and his family own and operate a water well drilling company, Harich Enterprises, Inc. They keep a water pump at their loading station neighboring their ranch on Highway 18 which pumps 600 gallons of water a minute. Firefighters often use it during wildfires to fill up on water, Harich said.

"We just filled up to Forest Service trucks," he said.

Though many residents opted to leave their homes when mandatory evacuations were ordered Monday, Harich was one of the residents who opted to stay, as he has in years past. His family owns a bulldozer, which they've used to create a firebreak of several hundred yards around their property.

He's used to the sights, sounds and smells of wildland fires, but admits this time it's pretty close to home.

"You'll hear the propane tanks blow up. The town's pretty bad," Harich said, adding, "But I'd rather die in a forest fire than on the 91 freeway. At least I'm doing what I love."

Harich is one of the more fortunate ones.

Houses continue to burn, and concerns firefighters had early Tuesday morning when the Slide Fire jumped Highway 18 and Highway 330 about the blaze burning homes in the Fredalba area became reality. As of noon, at least a half dozen homes burned on Fredalba Road on the mountainside overlooking San Bernardino.

Smoke obscured Highway 330 as northeasterly winds continued pushing the fire southwest down the mountain, said Veronica Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

"Right now it's on the mountaintop, but it's going to go down," Magnuson said from the Running Springs Fire Station today.

Concern about residents who opted to stay in their homes weighed heavily on the minds of law enforcement officials.

"There's still people who have stayed, and it's a mandatory evacuation," Magnuson said. The sheriff is going door to door again today."

Joe Nelson, joe.nelson@sbsun.com

Authorities are letting residents displaced in the Martin Ranch Fire to return home.
The road opened to Little League Drive around 11:45 a.m.
"If everything is favorable for us today, we'll get rid of a lot of resources by tonight," said Andrew Bennett, incident commander for CalFire.
About 75 acres burned, but no homes were lost. Charred brush and trees could be seen up near homes, but firefighters clearly have done a fine job defending the structures.
Authorities believe the cause of the wildfire is accidental, Bennett said.
At least 15 engines, three water tenders, two dozers and two hand crews of 16-to-18 firefighters have been tackling the blaze.
-- Matt Wrye

According to the Associated Press, a U.S. Forest Service official has confirmed that a second person has been killed by Southern California’s devastating wildfires. The latest victim was an unidentified civilian who died of burns
suffered in a fire in Santa Clarita.
No deaths have been reported in any of our local wildfires.
-- George Watson

At least three houses in the 700 block of Brentwood overlooking Grass Valley Lake are gone, as of 11:35 this morning.
Chimneys and fireplaces are the only remnants of the houses.
Meanwhile, the whooshing sound of gas can be heard as flames fly between four and 10 feet into the air from two gas lines.
Gas company personnel are there working on the lines.

Rolling Thunder, a nationwide veterans' group with a California chapter, is taking donations and raising money to bring food to firefighters battling the blazes in the San Bernardino Mountains.
"We'll keep making deliveries as long we have something to bring," said the president of the state chapter, Joy Jeanette.
Call (760) 246-2928 if you want to help.
-- George Watson

California Senator Dianne Feinstein is now on the Senate floor discussing the wildfires.

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, released the following statement with regard to Southern California's wildfires:

"I thank President Bush for his quick response in declaring a state of emergency in the areas affected by the wildfires. In a letter sent earlier today, I asked that he gives all federal support possible, including personnel, equipment, and funding, necessary for a speedy recovery. I fear that if FEMA is not prepared with an appropriate response, the economic and environmental damage caused by these fires may be irreparable.

“Because of the high winds, these fires affect all of us in the Inland area. I urge everyone to take the necessary precautions. Due to poor air quality and high levels of soot, avoid prolonged time outdoors if at all possible. Drink plenty of water to keep your airways clear, and breathe through a wet washcloth if prolonged activity outside becomes unavoidable. Most importantly, make sure you obey all law enforcement officials, and evacuate immediately if told to do so.

“I thank the brave men and women on the ground, who continue to fight the wildfires and evacuate those in harm’s way. Throughout the day, I will be meeting with individuals from the U.S. Forest Service to remain as informed as possible on the coordination of federal and local activities. We are working to determine the best possible course of action to prevent further spread of the wildfires, and determine what future steps must be taken to ensure a quick and full recovery for those individuals and families whose lives are affected.”

-- George Watson

Cars and lawns are being sprinkled with ash in Muscoy this morning.
"It's really coming down," said John Dagger. "It reminds me of the Panorama Fire in '81. It's pretty bad. There's nobody outside. It's really quiet. It seems like a Sunday."

The Grass Valley and Slide fires in the San Bernardino Mountains are still at zero percent containment, according to information gathered by the United States Forest Service at 7:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. this morning.
No deaths or injuries have been reported as result of the fires, said Josh Direen, a spokesman for the forest service.

Slide Fire

Mandatory evacuations are in place at Green Valley Lake, Arrowbear and Running Springs.
As of 7:30 a.m. this morning 4,000 acres have burned. About 125 houses are lost, about 100 of those burned last in Running Springs while the fire was very active. The fire has crossed Highway 18 on the west side of Running Springs. It has also crossed Highway 330 by Fredalba and Smiley Park. Firefighters are actively protecting the Fredalba and Smiley Park areas.
The fire is making a run at Green Valley, but firefighters are unable to reach the area due to unsafe conditions.
Six water tender trucks that supply water for firefighters are being used with 22 fire engines to fight the fire.

Grass Valley fire

Mandatory evacuations are in place north of Highway 189 and north of Lake Arrowhead Dam at Highway 173. Mandatory evacuations are also in place in Twin Peaks, Bluejay, Crestline and Lake Gregory. Voluntary evacuations are in place for the rest of Lake Arrowhead as well as Cedar Glenn, Cedar Pines Park and The Valley of Enchantment.
The fire has burned 113 homes in the north Lake Arrowhead area, 1,500 homes are still threatened, Direen said.
Today, crews are working mainly at the Fairway and Grandview, Direen said.
As of 11 a.m. this morning the fire has burned about 1,000 acres. It's mainly burning in the Grass Valley Creek area and is still on the northwest side of Lake Arrowhead, Direen said. A number of unburned pockets exist in the area.
Sixty fire engines and four water tender trucks are being used to battle the blaze.
Crews are actively working in the Grand View and Fairway areas.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Lake Arrowhead this morning to tour the fire zone near Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School on Rhine Road.
He is scheduled to begin a news conference at 11 a.m. at the school, following his tour and a briefing about the fires in the San Bernardino Mountains and elsewhere in Southern California.

All Inland Empire freeways - including the 210, 215 and 10 - are now open, according to the California Highway Patrol.

DEVORE – Firefighters who battled the Cajon Fire overnight made significant progress, and have now contained 50 percent of the blaze, said Pam Bierce, fire information officer for the San Bernardino National Forest Service.

The 200-acre fire, centered west of the 215/15 Freeway interchange, does not threaten homes, and there have been no forced evacuations in the nearby communities of Lytle Creek and Devore.

Less than 100 firefighters are now on scene, and are working to “mop up” pockets of flames in the deep areas of affected canyons, Bierce said.

“I was there and there was very little smoke,” Bierce said. “We're looking pretty good on that one.”

Wind in the area is estimated at 30 mph, with gusts of up to 50 mph, Bierce said. Yesterday gusts were clocked at 70 mph.

“It's still windy, but the gusts don't seem as bad as most of the day yesterday,” Bierce said.

Fire officials still believe the fire, which broke out at 11:30 a.m. Monday, may have been caused by downed or sparking power lines, though that cause remains unconfirmed.

There have been no firefighter or civilian injuries caused by the Cajon Fire.

-- Will Bigham

The CHP said at 9:40 a.m. that the northbound 215 at University in San Bernardino is being reopened. Meanwhile, Highway 79 from the 10 Freeway to Hemet is closed due to high winds and closures on Highway 18 in the mountains remain in effect.

--Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The California Highway Patrol and CDF reported the Slide Fire was moving toward Old City Creek Road north of Highway 330 in Running Springs about 9:30 a.m. The CHP said structures are threatened.

--Melissa Pinion-Whitt

The 210 Freeway through Fontana was reopened at 9:31 a.m. in both directions, according to the CHP.

When Grace Lopez looked out her window yesterday Monday all she saw was black and orange smoke.
“At that point I knew I was going to get evacuated without anyone telling me,” Lopez said. “I got the kids and said I'm not taking any chances – I know I was leaving.”

Smoke and ash from numerous wildfires along with dust raised by strong winds continue to create unhealthful air quality throughout much of the Southland again today.

The Devore Fire, which ignited near the 15 and 215 Freeway split, burned 200 acres and was 20 percent contained this morning, officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze led to closures along the 215 through north San Bernardino, causing a traffic nightmare for morning commuters.
Another blaze in north Fontana north of Victoria Avenue and east of the 15 Freeway was 5 percent contained and 30 acres as of 5 a.m., San Bernardino County fire officials said. Between 100 to 150 firefighters were on scene. The Martin Ranch Fire in San Bernardino was 80 acres and 60 percent contained.