Charles Haslam
Staff writer “I’m lucky that my house didn’t catch on fire, because there were two fires within a mile of my house on each side,” said junior Laura Myerchin, resident of an area near San Bernardino, California.
Fires began Oct. 21, in Ventura County, California, and have since ignited in 12 different sites in southern California, threatening areas as far south as Tijuana.
On Oct. 25, near San Bernardino, the highways were shut down and thousands of people evacuated to a shelter near the airport. Hospitals and schools were threatened and the fire charred three buildings at California State University, said the Washington Post.
The wildfires also caused the evacuation of over 105,000 people.
Myerchin’s family was one such family evacuated. “We have had brush fires before and have been evacuated a few times before but this was the first time my family was evacuated while I was away at Guilford. It was really scary to not be able to get in contact with my family knowing that the area I live in was on fire,” she said.
The “old fire,” as it was named, near San Bernardino, has been 65 percent contained but has caused more damage than any of the other fires.
A frustrated governor, Grey Davis, said to CNN, “Obviously I wish we’d gotten money from the federal government in larger amounts. We did get 40 million. I’m grateful for that and there’s still more time to provide us with more money.”
More than 14,500 firefighters have battled the fires, which were determined to have been started by environmental and human causes. Forty-mile-per-hour winds have limited the progress of the firefighters, while aiding the spread of the fires themselves.
“I, in my movies, played heroes, but those firefighters are true heroes,” Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters.
Overall the fires have left 22 people dead and 24,000 without power. The Los Angeles Times reported destruction of more than 800,000 acres burned and 2,600 homes destroyed. The colossal expanse of the fires are so great that astronauts aboard the International Space Station can see the smoke from orbit.
President Bush, Governor Davis, and Governor-elect Schwarzennegger are now focusing on the aftermath of the fires and disaster relief to the people of California.