Title: October 2007 California wildfires Content: The California wildfires of October 2007 are more than 20 wildfires until November 9, 2007 burning in Southern California, making over 1,000,000 people have to leave their homes, breaking at least 1,500 homes and buildings and moving in on at least 56,000 more. At least of land have burned between Santa Barbara County and the Mexican border. Officials have said that they fear the fire could become even more deadly than the 2003 Cedar Fire, said to be the worst on ever. The number and strength of the fires have tired the firefighters, with one department saying the "lack of resources [is] hindering suppression efforts." The fires have killed six people and have hurt at least 16 firefighters and 25 others. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven California counties where fires burned. President Bush has declared an emergency is in the State of California and ordered Federal aid to help State and local efforts. An event that helped the fires is the drought hapenning in Southern California. The fires have been strengthened by the strangely strong Santa Ana winds. The winds are believed to have broken power lines, creating some of the fires. One fire was because of arson; one was started by an flipped-over semi-truck. Why the other fires are happening it not yet known. Winds are not expected to get better until October 25 2007. ==Fires== ===San Diego County=== San Diego County is where the two biggest fires are, the Witch Fire near the northeastern edge of the city of San Diego, and the Harris fire southeast of San Diego. The Witch fire forced Interstate 15 to be closed, and the Harris fire burns near the border with Mexico. As of the night of October 22, 2007, at least 5,000 homes were in danger. About 500,000 people have to leave, the largest evacuation in the area's history. Evacuees were meeting at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, Qualcomm Stadium and other places in the county. Officials think that 10,000 were meeting at Qualcomm. Other than food, blankets and water, volunteers gave toys to children, massages, and a live rock and roll band showe. Many schools and business were closed. The only burn unit in the county, the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest was operated on an overflow basis. The unit, which has 18 beds, had gotten 16 fire victims and several patients with injuries not due to the blazes. Info on the fires right now is from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, although the chaotic nature of the fires meant not all information was available. As of October 23 at 11:34 a.m. PST:  * Slide or Green Valley Lake Fire The Slide Fire has burned at Green Valley Lake, west of Lake Arrowhead. The Green Valley Lake, Arrow Bear, and Running Springs communities are under evacuation. Reports indicate water pressure in local systems was lost and conditions were too harsh for fighters to continue efforts in some areas. The fire has burned a camp owned by the Boy Scouts of America's local council, the California Inland Empire Council, called "Camp Helendade." Helendade was originally given to the council in 1960 to replace another camp that had been burned. * Grass Valley Fire The Grass Valley Fire is burning just north of Lake Arrowhead. An online appeal from firefighters near the blaze at Lake Arrowhead showed that resources were spread thin: > "Immediate threat to 100 structures and possible threat to thousands ... > Multiple downed power lines. IC (Incident Command) asking for resources from > anywhere ... Lack of resources hindering suppression efforts. Unable to fly > aircraft. All local engines are depleted." * Martin Fire The fire began near Martin Ranch Road and Meyers Road. * Walker Fire This fire was in the Ontario, California area. It damaged several buildings. * Devore and Glen Helen Fires or Cajon Fire Together the fires made it a must to close Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass. One fire was started by an flipped-over semi-truck. This fire has burned 250 acres. It is currently 50 percent under control. 107 firefighters are assigned to this fire. * Little Mountain Fire The Little Mountain fire threatens several homes and other structures. ===Santa Barbara County=== * Sedgewick Fire The Sedgewick Fire was the farthest north of the October 2007 California wildfires. It started around 6:00 a.m. PST on October 21, 2007 from a falling power line. The fire burned a total of near Los Olivos. Approximately 2000 people were affected and 800 homes threatened before the fire was all under control around 5:00 p.m. on October 22. ===Riverside County=== * Roca Fire The Roca fire began at 3:52 p.m. on October 21 in Aguanga, and burned east of Temecula. The fire was 100% contained on October 22. One home was destroyed and one injury was reported from the fire. * Rosa Fire The Rosa fire began at 11:00 p.m. on October 22 in western Temecula and has burned . There are people who have to leave and closed roads in this area. The fire is 50% under control; 100% expected by October 24 at 6 p.m. ==Wind and weather== The fires are occurring in a very dry area and they are being exacerbated by seasonal winds called the Santa Ana winds. The San Diego Union Tribune reported, "Santa Ana winds blowing up to 60 mph combined with temperatures into the 90s to create in the worst possible fire conditions." Southern California is in the midst of an unusual drought; in Los Angeles, California, with only 3.21 in (82 mm) of precipitation in the entire 2006-2007 rain season, it is the driest year on record, receiving less rain than Death Valley in a normal year. The Santa Ana winds are warm, dry winds that characteristically appear in Southern California and Northern Baja California weather during autumn and early winter. Santa Anas are a type of föhn wind, the result of air pressure buildup in the high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. This high energy wind spills out of the Great Basin and is pulled by gravity into the surrounding lowlands. The air circulates clockwise around the high pressure area bringing winds from the east and northeast to Southern California (the reverse of the westerly winds characteristic of the latitude). The air heats up due to adiabatic heating while being compressed during its descent. While the air has already been dried by orographic lift prior to reaching the Great Basin, the relative humidity of the air declines rapidly as it descends and warms in its final stages as it passes over the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges. The air is then forced down the mountain slopes out towards the Pacific coast; the air mass is further heated by compression as it drops in altitude before reaching the Los Angeles Basin, western San Diego County and Tijuana (Baja California) at typical speeds of 35 knots. The southern California coastal region gets some of its hottest weather of the year during autumn while Santa Ana winds are blowing. During Santa Ana conditions it is typically hotter along the coast than in the deserts and the humidity plummets to less than 15%. As the Santa Ana winds are channeled through the mountain passes they can approach hurricane force. The combination of wind, heat, and dryness turns the chaparral into explosive fuel for the infamous wildfires the region is known for. Wildfires fanned by Santa Ana winds burned 721,791 acres (2,921 km²) in two weeks during October 2003. As of October 22, the high wind conditions were expected to continue to hamper firefighting for three additional days. At around 12:30 PM, officials believed that some of the fires have began generating their own winds, similar to the Oakland Firestorm of 1991. ==Impact== On October 21, the Harris Fire damaged and disabled the Southwest Power Link, a 500,000-volt power line from Arizona to San Diego. Power outages were reported in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and other counties on October 22 to 333,500 Southern California Edison customers, most being restored within 24 hours. The power outage also affected the areas of Ojai, Oxnard, Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, Rialto, Fontana, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Mira Loma, Hesperia, Corona, Bloomington, Irvine, Calimesa and Rubidoux. This outage also caused 230 people to be without power in Malibu. The California Independent System Operator Corp, or California ISO, declared an energy transmission emergency in southern California on October 23, due to wildfires affecting the lines. 500,000-, 230,000- and 138,000-volt lines were disabled in San Diego, and some lines in other areas were also disabled. 24,992 lost power, due to lack of power from the power grid. The San Diego Community College District on October 22, 2007 initially closed Miramar College, followed by Mesa College and selected Continuing Education sites in the northern area of the District. Effective at 3:00 p.m. the same day all colleges, campuses and sites of the San Diego Community College District were closed and would remain so through at least October 23, 2007. Students and faculty were urged to seek an update on possible closures on October 23 after 5:00pm local time. Numerous other schools, businesses and universities have closed as well, including California State University, San Marcos, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, the University of San Diego and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Classes for Tuesday, October 23 have been canceled for all of San Diego Unified School District and Sweetwater Union High School District as well as all other districts in the county and all schools in the municipalities of Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito, located across the border in Baja California, Mexico. In the Santa Clarita area, classes and events were cancelled at College of the Canyons and CalArts; local public schools were cancelled as well. All public schools were closed in Malibu, and there were some school closings in Orange County, Ventura County and San Bernardino County. By mid-morning on October 22, 2007, thousands of evacuees were taking shelter in Qualcomm Stadium and other locations throughout San Diego. On the afternoon of October 22, 2007, the Marines were evacuating some planes from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to other military bases in California and Arizona. The San Diego Wild Animal Park moved some animals to the on-site animal hospital for their protection. As of October 22 2007, with Qualcomm Stadium still hosting evacuees, the San Diego State University football team was still planning to host their Saturday game against BYU in the stadium. Some players and coaches have been affected by evacuations. Numerous San Diego area high schools canceled games and practices at least through October 242007. With many players from the San Diego Chargers affected by evacuations, the team has moved practices to Arizona and they may move their upcoming game there as well. center|thumb|600px|Smoke fills the horizon in East San Diego County, October 22, 2007. ==Response== Government agencies and volunteers worked together to mitigate the effects of the fires. According to the state of California's Consolidated Response web page, "There are 17 active fires in Southern California. The priority for fighting fires as of 1930 on October 21 is the Buckweed, Witch, Harris, Canyon, Ranch, Santiago, and Sedgewick Fires." With many businesses and schools closed, some people used their time off to help others. Officials estimated that 10,000 people were gathered at Qualcomm stadium, the largest shelter point in San Diego. Besides food, blankets and water, volunteers provided toys for children, massages, and a live rock and roll band performance. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened ten of its churches as temporary shelters and, at the request of the mayor of San Diego, delivered two truckloads of blankets and processed food to evacuees in Qualcomm Stadium.LDS Church responds to California wildfires abc4.com The Salvation Army The Salvation Army USA Western Territory: Southern California Fires: The Salvation Army Helps First Responders, Evacuees is providing food, water and comfort to firefighters, police and others affected by the blaze. The Navy and Marines were also helping in San Diego. Six crews from the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85 based at Naval Air Station North Island have been assigned to battle the Witch Creek fire. They fly MH-60 Seahawk helicopters which have a 420-gallon water bucket and they are the only local Navy teams trained to fight fires from the air. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has contributed several aircraft as well as fire fighting trucks to operations based in Ramona. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven California counties where fires burned. President George W. Bush declared a federal disaster for the seven counties and scheduled a Thursday, October 25, 2007 visit to the region.