Even as winds calm, more Californians flee fires
- 1/9/2009 2:12:04 PM -
More residents of Southern California
were urged to leave their homes Sunday despite calming winds that
allowed a major aerial attack on wildfires that have destroyed hundreds
of homes and blanketed the region in smoke.
Fires burned in Los Angeles County, to
the east in Riverside and Orange counties, and to the northwest in
Santa Barbara County. More than 800 houses, mobile homes and apartments
were destroyed by fires that have burned areas more than 34 square
miles since breaking out Thursday.
No deaths have been reported, but police
brought in trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile
home park where nearly 500 homes were destroyed. They didn't find any
bodies after searching about a third of the homes.
"This has been a very tough few days for
the people of Southern California," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said
after touring damage.