Fires Rage Across SoCal

A Los Angeles County firefighter braces against wind and flames as fire leaps across Rambla Pacifico in the Santa Monica Mountains as fire continues to burn in Malibu, Calif., Monday, Oct. 22, 2007.

Three firefighters brace themselves from explosive heat coming from a burning home in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Monday, October 22, 2007. More than a dozen wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds spread across Southern California, killing one person near San Diego, destroying several homes and a church in celebrity-laden Malibu, and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.

A firefighter runs along the highway 241 northbound onramp at Portola in Irvine, Calif., chasing down wildfire hot spots that were jumping the road, Monday Oct. 22, 2007. About a dozen blazes erupted over the weekend, feeding on drought-parched land from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean.

A photo provided by the European Space Agency on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 shows the Envisat's MERIS image, acquired on Oct. 22, 2007, of desert winds blowing smoke from wildfires in Southern California. Sand is visible being blown from Mexicos Baja California Peninsula over the Gulf of California to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Thick smoke encompasses an abandoned neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Monday, October 22, 2007.

An air tanker drops fire retardant on homes near Reche Road, west of Interstate 15, as the Rice Fire destroys at least 100 homes on Monday, Oct. 22, 2007 near Fallbrook, Calif. Southern California is being pounding by Santa Ana Winds pushing numerous major wildfires into communities surrounded by native Chaparral habitat and burning hundreds of homes. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated from their homes so far.

A Los Angeles County firefighting helicopter dumps a load of water on a wildfire which started late Monday afternoon Oct. 22, 2007, next to Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita, Calif., north of Los Angeles.

A home in the path of a massive wildfire burns Monday, Oct. 22, 2007 in Poway, Calif. The Witch Fire, which started outside of Ramona, Calif., has burned hundreds of structures and forced thousands of evacuations as fires burn across Southern California.

Kris Zipprick walks to a bus with the aid of a walker along with medical personnel during an evacuation at Pomerado Hospital Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Poway, Calif. The Witch Fire, which started outside of Ramona, Calif., has burned hundreds of structures and forced thousands of evacuations as fires burn across Southern California.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, second left, is briefed on the Southern California fires at the fire Command Center in Malibu, Calif., Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. He is joined by L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, left, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, second right, and Ruben Grijalva, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Firefighters from the Orange County Fire department work on a 3,800-acre brush fire near Irvine, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007. Things got worse Monday, when new fires sprouted and others merged.

A home burns on Camp Plenty Road in Canyon Country, Calif. on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Andrea Mock of Irvine evacuates her home with her two scared children as the fires near their home in Irvine, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Firefighters from the Orange County Fire department battle a brush fire near Irvine, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Embers continue to burn in the remains of the Malibu Presbyterian Church late into the night in Malibu, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007. Some of the worst damage was in Malibu, where a church, homes and a historic castle were destroyed.

An unidentified woman sprays her roof with water as a fast moving wildfire approaches in Canyon Country, Calif. on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Houses burn on Camp Plenty Road in Canyon Country, Calif. on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Geronimo Ruiz foams the roof at the home of producer Jeffrey Katzenberg where a wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds threatened a university and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007, in Malibu, Calif. Flames destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.

Residents scramble to load their belongings in to cars and evacuate their neighborhood as wind driven flames approach in Canyon Country, Calif., east of Santa Clarita late Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007, after high winds blew flames throughout the neighborhood.

Firefighters put out a fire at a beach home, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007, in Malibu, Calif.

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