LAKESIDE, Calif. — Two firefighters had reached the security gate of Lake View Hills Estates just ahead of the Cedar fire early Sunday but were ordered to retreat before they could warn homeowners, four of whom later died in the fire's path.
With no help from authorities, families of this secluded neighborhood in rural San Diego County had only minutes to decide how to escape the fire that also destroyed five homes.
"There was absolutely nothing we could do, short of getting ourselves killed," said Lakeside Fire Capt. Scott Culkin, who was in charge of the fire command post that night. "It was such a tremendous fire that if you stayed, you'd die. We knew that we were going to have some people who were trapped and were probably not going to make it."
Weary firefighters on Tuesday expressed frustration and anger that they were unable to help. "We lose some houses every once in a while," said Capt. Tim Macrorie. "We don't lose people."
"This is a devastating feeling for us," Culkin added. "We know what our jobs are."
Fire officials from Lakeside Fire Station 3 said they were outmaneuvered and overmatched against the fast-moving fire that jumped from hilltop to hilltop. Firefighters, some catching a break after working back-to-back shifts, said Tuesday they had never seen such a ferocious wildfire.
"People talk about firestorms," said Division Chief Ron Laff. "This was a firestorm plus."
Sometime after 3:05 a.m. Sunday, two firefighters in a paramedic unit drove to the security gate outside the 10-home enclave. The pair made sure that the gate was open. Within minutes of arriving and reporting the fire conditions over the radio, they were ordered to turn back.
Firefighters in nearby neighborhoods were also told to retreat. On the way out, however, they said they were able to alert some residents by banging on doors and honking air horns. Firefighters called through a bullhorn: Save your lives. Get out now.
Lake View Hills Estates residents were left to fend for themselves.
Fire Capt. Dan Marshall said his colleagues had to leave. "They were going to be enveloped in fire in a matter of minutes," he said. "Their escape route was going to be cut off. They were going to die."
Firefighter Bryan Peters, a three-year department veteran, said he was evacuating residents along Yerba Valley Road, about half a mile east of the Lake View Hills Estates, when "everything I could see turned into fire within a few seconds. I knew it was time to get the hell out of there."
