October 2007 California wildfires

The **California wildfires of October 2007** were more than 20 wildfires until November 9, 2007 burning in Southern California, making over 1,000,000 people to leave their homes, breaking at least 1,500 homes and buildings
At least 

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven California counties where fires burned.

An event that helped the fires is the drought 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.  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 16 fire victims and several patients with injuries not due to the blazes.

As of October 23 at 11:34&nbsp;a.m. PST:  San Diego County Sheriff William B. Kolendar said that the Witch Creek Fire could be "well in excess of Cedar Fire of 2003". Officials also said that the fire could reach the coastline; people living in Solana Beach were told to be ready to evacuate.

All residents south of Del Dios Highway, north of Sorrento Valley Road, west of Interstate 15, and east of Interstate 5 were told to evacuate. Evacuations were also ordered for Scripps Ranch neighborhood, mostly "Everything south of Scripps Poway Parkway, north of MCAS Miramar, east of Interstate 15, and west of Highway 67".  The Mesa Grande Indian reservation was evacuated from the Witch Fire. Residents of the Barona Indian Reservation were told to leave if they wish. The casino on the reservation was closed. At about 01:00 on 23 October, fire happened near the southern end of Wild Cat Canyon, where many houses were broken and people killed in the Cedar Fire. Residents of Wild Cat Canyon and Muth Valley were told to evacuate, and the road was closed.

Many major roads were closed around the fire.  On October 22, 2007, the California Highway Patrol closed Interstate 15 in both ways between state Route 78 and state Route 56.

#### Other fires
* **Camp Pendleton Fires**
Two different Marine Corps Base fires were reported at about 1:00&nbsp;p.m. on October 23.  The **Camp Margarita Fire** is at 33 Area behind the Marine Corps Air Station.  The **Las Pulgas Fire** is located at 43 Area near Basilone Road. Evacuations have been ordered.

* **Buckweed Fire**
 the night of October 212007]]
As of 23 October 2007 the Buckweed fire in Agua Dulce and the Santa Clarita community of Canyon Country has burned in northeastern parts of the county.  The communities of Santa Clarita, Leona Valley, Green Valley, Acton, Agua Dulce, and Mint Canyon were in danger.  At least 925 firefighters are fighting the fire. Over 15,000 people and 5,500 homes had been evacuated.
 skyline from October 21, 2007 to October 22 2007.]]
* **Canyon Fire**
The Canyon Fire has burned close to Malibu, California, mostly in Malibu Canyon. 600 residences, 200 commercial buildings, and 100 outbuildings were in danger, and 500 homes have been evacuated.
* **Magic Fire**
The Magic Fire started near The Old Road at Magic Mountain Parkway. Flames crept a few yards from West Ranch High School and many houses being made in Stevenson Ranch, but were pushed away. The fire is believed to have been caused accidentally by welders at a construction site. and also threatened the communities of Fillmore, Ventura and Ojai.  The fire has burned over  and is 30% contained.

### San Bernardino County
* **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.
* **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."
* **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 burned 250&nbsp;acres. It is currently 50% 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&nbsp;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&nbsp;p.m. on October 22.

### Riverside County
* **Roca Fire**
The Roca fire began at 3:52&nbsp;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&nbsp;p.m. on October 22 in western Temecula and  burned .   The fire is 50% under control; 100% expected by October 24 at 6&nbsp;p.m.

2007 show how quickly the fires spread. The right image was taken just 3&nbsp;hours 15&nbsp;minutes after the left image, showind the rapid rate the fires spread at.]]

## Wind and weather
, just north of San Diego, was knocked over by strong Santa Ana winds during the 2007 wildfires.]]
 image from 2002 showing the speed of the Santa Ana winds (m/s).]]
The fires were in a very dry area and they were made worse by seasonal winds called the Santa Ana winds.  The San Diego Union Tribune reported, "Santa Ana winds blowing up to 60&nbsp;mph combined with temperatures into the 90s to create in the worst possible fire conditions." Southern California was in the midst of an unusual drought; in Los Angeles, California, with only 3.21&nbsp;in&nbsp;(82&nbsp;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&nbsp;acres (2,921&nbsp;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&nbsp;PM, officials believed that some of the fires were generating their own winds, similar to the Oakland Firestorm of 1991.

## Impact
 closed due to the fires.]]
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&nbsp;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.  Numerous other schools, businesses and universities 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 were canceled for all of San Diego Unified School District and 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.  Numerous San Diego area high schools canceled games and practices at least through October 24 2007.  With many players from the San Diego Chargers affected by evacuations, the team moved practices to Arizona and they may move their upcoming game there as well.

## Response
, a plane captain launches an MH-60S Seahawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 85 to conduct operations in support of the California Department of Forestry's efforts in combating the San Diego wildfires.]]
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.  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.

The Salvation Army  provided 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 were 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  contributed several aircraft as well as fire fighting trucks to operations based in Ramona.

## References
## Other websites
* CNN updates
* Los Angeles Times Breaking News
* SanDiego.gov Emergency Fire Information 
* Google map showing fire locations and information on their size and containment
** Google map with detailed information relevant to San Diego
* SignOnSanDiego fire blog
* Fire maps 
* State of California Consolidated Report on Fires 
* The San Bernardino Sun and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin fire blog 
* The San Bernardino Sun's Fire Updates
* KPBS updates via Twitter