Fires in Malibu, and most of Southern California have burned acres of land and homes, and are planned to be fully contained by late October/early November.

Dozens of fires have broken out through California, the biggest of which being the Witch Creek fire, which extends from just west of Julian to Rancho Santa Fe, one of the richest zip codes in the country. The Witch fire has combined with multiple others, causing it to "[b]urn 196,420 acres and 645 homes" (Bloomberg.com US). It currently stands at a 1% containment.

Another fire that is a threat to Southern California is the Harris fire, located more towards the border of Mexico. Its threatened Tecate, San Miguel, and Potrero (where it began). The "Harris fire, which has burned 73,000 acres and 200 homes," is still only 10% contained (Bloomberg.com US).

"The Rice fire, which burned 7,500 acres and destroyed 206 homes, is 15 percent contained," (Bloomberg.com US). The Rice fire, which is the smallest of the major fires, has threatened most of Fallbrook and imposes threats on Camp Pendleton, a major military base. Small fires have been seen throughout Camp Pendleton but they were all fully contained. Many are hoping that thw Witch fire and Rice fire to not combine. "A fire called Slide in the mountainous community of Green Valley north of Los Angeles burned 300 homes and has zero containment, the state said." (Bloomberg.com US).

"Since the latest wildfires broke out Oct. 21, about 321,000 residents have been ordered to leave their homes, and an additional 500,000 people have left voluntarily, making it the largest evacuation in California's history, the governor's office and state emergency-services officials said.

About 2,576 homes have been destroyed or damaged according to a state emergency Web site. About 184 businesses were destroyed or damaged, while 2,055 are threatened, the Web site said.

Damage in San Diego County alone has reached $1 billion, local emergency officials said, the Associated Press reported." (Bloomberg.com US).

California has felt much more damage from the Rice, Harris, and Witch fires than the Cedar fires in 2003. The Santa Ana winds were blowing at up to 70 miles an hour in some parts of the state on Monday causing the fire to be virtually un-containable.

Unfortunately, many have tried to use this fire to their advantage, looting houses, and asking for donations to help aid the fire, when actually taking the money for themselves. Do not give out your credit card to people asking to help, unless it is a distinguished organization.

5 people have been reported dead, one being an illegal immigrant crossing the border from Mexico to California. Around 30 have been injured, most being fire fighters. Authorities would like people to remain in safe areas if your house is still under mandatory evacuation.

Let's keep those that have lost their homes, their loved ones, and those that are potentially threatened in our thoughts.



Some helpful links:
One of the most detailed maps you will probably find

Offical Emergency page for those of you in the San Diego area

An up-to-date blog