Fires San Diego County

As forlorn firefighters sifted through the charred remains of Escondido's only animal shelter Monday, it seemed that Noah's Ark had sailed into Dante's Inferno. Two 12-foot Burmese pythons were being treated for smoke inhalation. An emu had been sent to Carlsbad for safe harbor. Charlie, a dachshund mix with burned face and paws, was wheezing audibly and receiving an intravenous plasma drip.

SAN DIEGO - A body believed to be that of an 82-year-old man was found in the burned remains of a home on Monday that was destroyed by a brush fire in eastern San Diego County, according to fire and police officials. The body was believed to be that of the home's owner, a one-legged man who told neighbors that he was not going to evacuate. The man's truck was parked outside. Neighbors had alerted investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and local sheriff's deputies that the man may have died.

A slow-burning electrical fire was blamed for the blaze that killed the granddaughter of publishing magnate Edward Wyllis Scripps and her husband as they slept in their turn-of-the century home. Ellen Scripps Davis, 84, was pulled from the bedroom of her burning home early Sunday by employees who lived at the Scripps Ranch, just north of San Diego. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

As brush fire season continues in San Diego County, firefighters are concerned about an increase in the number of fires caused by target shooting in rural areas. So far the county has had 10 fires caused by target shooting, compared with only two last year, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Two kinds of ammunition found at these locations are also puzzling. One is a Russian-made bullet and the other is used with M4 rifles, which by law can be sold only to the U.S. military, law enforcement and U.S. military allies.

The 73-year-old widow of actor Ward Bond, star of the long-running television series "Wagon Train," died in a fire Thursday in her Vista home, where she apparently had been smoking in bed, authorities said. Mary Lou Bond was Ward Bond's secretary and business manager when they married in 1954. He died in 1960. Her current husband, John Diggs, 77, was hospitalized for minor burns. Diggs, who was awakened by smoke and unable to lift his invalid wife, called firefighters.

A stubborn fire on the dry slopes of Palomar Mountain continued to burn Tuesday as 1,245 firefighters, many of them from out of state, battled to contain the 9,000-acre blaze that has swept into inaccessible canyons and timberland not touched by fire in more than 100 years. Rob Bruggema, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry, said the fire, which began Saturday at about 3 p.m., was about 40% contained Tuesday.

About 100 dogs, cats and other animals were killed by a fire despite efforts by firefighters who unlatched cages and carried animals to safety outside a burning shelter. Volunteers and workers hugged and wept Sunday outside the gutted remains of the shelter, which burned Saturday night. At least 85 of the 200 animals in the shelter survived. More than 20 dogs, three cats, two snakes and a pigeon were being treated at animal hospitals Sunday.

Firefighters worked in 90-degree heat Friday, battling a 3,000-acre Los Padres National Forest blaze that was 75% contained. In San Diego County, another wildfire also neared containment. "It's burning away from the city of Cuyama and into the forest," said Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Richard Abrams. "It's burning some very old fuel." Full containment was expected this evening.

Fire in a steep San Diego canyon threatened 12 homes, but firefighters managed to put out the blaze in an hour. The fire also was slowed by ice plant, an extremely moist succulent which surrounded some of the Manzanita Canyon homes, fire authorities said. About 70 firefighters battled the 1 p.m. fire, which scorched three acres.

California Department of Forestry officials said Friday that even if they had known of a pending Santa Ana weather condition last weekend, they were powerless to stop a permit holder from "slash" burning and allegedly igniting a 15,800-acre fire that has burned at Palomar Mountain for a week. Dan Lang, department fire prevention engineer, said from his Sacramento office that most local fire stations and offices are powerless to halt the burning of debris once a permit has been issued.

LA JOLLA INDIAN RESERVATION -- With rain clouds gathering nearby, key officials in the post-fire recovery efforts for Southern California said Saturday that they're racing to take steps to prevent erosion and mudslides. The Witch, Poomacha and Rice fires that struck northern San Diego County last month scorched steep hillsides and hilltops, increasing the chances that rain will create muddy runoff that could endanger homes and clog streams and culverts, officials said.

Spitfire flames jumped from the top of one brittle tree to the next. The mission, maybe impossible, was to save a neighborhood of leafy, curving streets just 300 yards up a small hill. "This was the first big experience I've had fighting fires," said Lt. Cmdr. Jen Hannon, copilot of a Navy helicopter who usually shuttles supplies but was dispatched with her craft and crew to fly daylight missions, dumping 420-gallon buckets of water on the Harris fire as it approached Bonita in San Diego County.

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted a 34-year-old West Covina man for allegedly starting the Cedar fire that killed 15 people, burned 300,000 acres and did $400 million in damage as it roared through the backcountry and into pricey neighborhoods last year. Sergio Martinez started a fire by shooting a gun into dry brush in hopes of summoning help after he was separated from his hunting companion Oct. 25, 2003, in the Cleveland National Forest, according to the indictment.

The mood inside the small firehouse here bespoke stoicism and a matter-of-fact sense of duty. There was much to do in the aftermath of a one-sided battle. The eight volunteer firefighters had already been defeated by the overwhelming force of eastern San Diego County's Cedar fire. Rearing to 300 and 400 feet in the air, its flames had rolled through their position Tuesday like a well-commanded army. About 300 homes within a few miles had fallen to the flames.

As forlorn firefighters sifted through the charred remains of Escondido's only animal shelter Monday, it seemed that Noah's Ark had sailed into Dante's Inferno. Two 12-foot Burmese pythons were being treated for smoke inhalation. An emu had been sent to Carlsbad for safe harbor. Charlie, a dachshund mix with burned face and paws, was wheezing audibly and receiving an intravenous plasma drip.

About 100 dogs, cats and other animals were killed by a fire despite efforts by firefighters who unlatched cages and carried animals to safety outside a burning shelter. Volunteers and workers hugged and wept Sunday outside the gutted remains of the shelter, which burned Saturday night. At least 85 of the 200 animals in the shelter survived. More than 20 dogs, three cats, two snakes and a pigeon were being treated at animal hospitals Sunday.

The status of major fires in Southern California: 1) SANTA BARBARA (INCLUDING GOLETA AND MONTECITO): Santa Barbara County Status: Began Wednesday afternoon, still burning. Damage: $190 million Acres burned: 4,000 Homes destroyed: 567 Injuries: 40 Firefighters and equipment deployed: 800 firefighters; 62 engines, two bulldozers, one helicopter and three air tankers. Cause: Arson suspected. 2) GLENDALE: Los Angeles County Status: Began Wednesday afternoon, contained by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The principal freeway and railroad links between Los Angeles and San Diego were closed for more than five hours during the Tuesday morning rush hour after a fire broke out in a pesticide storage area of this Marine base, blowing suspected toxic smoke across the eight lanes of Interstate 5. Massive traffic tie-ups occurred at the northern and southern ends of the seven-mile freeway closure, which lasted from 6:15 a.m. to 11:33 a.m.

A slow-burning electrical fire was blamed for the blaze that killed the granddaughter of publishing magnate Edward Wyllis Scripps and her husband as they slept in their turn-of-the century home. Ellen Scripps Davis, 84, was pulled from the bedroom of her burning home early Sunday by employees who lived at the Scripps Ranch, just north of San Diego. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The granddaughter of the man who founded the Scripps newspaper empire and her husband died early Sunday when fire tore through their turn-of-the century home in Scripps Ranch, north of San Diego. Ellen Scripps Davis, 84, was pulled from the bedroom of her burning home about 3 a.m. by employees who lived at the ranch, San Diego County sheriff's officials said. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital burn center.