Fire propelled by high winds destroys homes, spreads in Southern California

Posted 8:09AM on Monday 11th February 2002 ( 23 years ago )

FALLBROOK, Calif. - A wind-whipped fire burned 16 homes and threatened others Sunday, forcing dozens of residents to flee into streets choked with smoke. Six people suffered hypothermia and smoke inhalation after they sought safety in a swimming pool while flames raged over them, said North County fire Capt. Rick Mann. Pete Jespersen grabbed an American flag and held it up to his face as he ran through heavy smoke to escape his in-laws' home. "I tried to save the house, but it was no use," said Jespersen, who sprayed water on the structure. Soot covered his face and arms. The 16 homes were damaged or destroyed shortly after the fire was reported Sunday morning, said Mann. The fire was 5 percent contained late Sunday. Mann said many of the homes were valued at $500,000 to $1 million. He said the area had not burned in decades, and that 15-foot-high brush was fueling the blaze. Eleven people were hospitalized for minor injuries or smoke inhalation, including the six who were also treated for hypothermia. Red Cross officials, who were setting up a shelter at a nearby high school, said about 100 people had been displaced. Fire investigators did not immediately determine a cause for the blaze. The 2,000-acre fire pumped smoke over the avocado groves and ranch homes in Fallbrook, about 60 miles north of San Diego. Many residents led horses away from the homes as they evacuated. Fed by winds of 25 to 30 mph, it quickly swept westward. It came within 500 yards of an officers' housing area at the Naval Weapons Station in Fallbrook, and the housing area was evacuated, station spokesman Gregg Smith said. Fewer than 20 people live in the quarters, he said. Ammunition and other weapons stores on the base are protected inside structures that can withstand fire, said Smith. Officials at Camp Pendleton, west of the Navy station, said units of the base fire department were sent to help with the fire, which was moving toward the camp. There was no threat to any structures or people on the Marine base Sunday, said Lt. Greg Scott, a spokesman. The blaze was driven by erratic winds that gusted up to 100 mph in other parts of Southern California over the weekend. They overturned two big-rigs, whipped brush fires into massive blazes and knocked over a tree that killed a tennis player. In a fire near Anaheim Hills, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles, roughly 1,700 acres of brush were burning. Winds gusted at speeds as high as 80 mph. More than 1,000 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which was about 35 percent contained by Sunday afternoon, said Kymbra Fleming, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority. The fire broke out Saturday night. No homes were immediately threatened, although some residents became worried when smoke blew over their neighborhood, Fleming said.

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