SAN DIEGO - Wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds consumed huge swaths of bone-dry Southern California on Monday, burning dozens of buildings and threatening hundreds more from Malibu to San Diego, including a jail, a hospital and nursing homes.

More than a dozen wildfires had engulfed the region, killing at least one person, injuring dozens more and forcing hundreds of thousands of evacuations. Overwhelmed firefighters said they lacked the resources to save many houses.

"We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them," San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake said. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today."

Nearly 250,000 people were forced to flee in San Diego County alone, where hundreds of patients were being moved by school bus and ambulance from a hospital and nursing homes, sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Knauss said...

The fires have burned about 100,000 acres, or 156 square miles, in San Diego County, said county Supervisor Ron Roberts. Across the region, 40,000 acres, or 62 square miles, had burned by Sunday.

"This is a major emergency," Roberts said.

In many cases, crews couldn't begin to fight the fires because they were too busy rescuing residents who refused to leave, fire officials said.

"They didn't evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late," Metcalf said. "And those folks who are making those decisions are actually stripping fire resources."...

The fires were being fueled by stronger than usual Santa Ana winds roaring out of the region's canyons, scientists said Monday. The powerful, dry winds typically blow between October and February and peak in December.

Typically, Santa Ana conditions last about a day, but the ones that flared up over the weekend were expected to last through Tuesday.

"For it to be this strong for so many days is unusual," said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071022/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires


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My prayers are with those in that area-those who are evacuating and those who are helping others and fighting these fires.

May they be safe.