Southern California wildfire evacuees allowed to return home

Five days after an explosive wildfire in Southern California drove thousands from their homes, authorities lifted all evacuation orders on Sunday to allow them to return.

About 82,000 people were ordered to leave their properties Tuesday when the fire broke out 100 kilometres east of Los Angeles.

Most of those residents are returning to find their homes intact, though not all. A preliminary damage assessment found 105 homes and 216 outbuildings destroyed across the rural, mountainous terrain where large swaths of open land have been turned black.

“This fire did not go through a dense community, like some fires do,” fire spokesman Costa Dillon said Sunday. “Almost all of this area is sparsely populated.”

The once fast-moving and erratic blaze that burned nearly 150 square kilometres was 85 per cent contained. Firefighters were going property-to-property in the areas most heavily hit to quell any lingering flames and hot spots.

Grandparents not allowed back

“You don’t want somebody to come back to a neighbourhood where a fire could suddenly flare up on the property next door from something still smoldering,” Dillon said.

Fire officials briefed residents at an evacuation centre Sunday morning at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, where about 15 residents remained.

Johanna Santore, 63, her husband and their 10-year-old granddaughter were among those who learned Sunday they are still not being permitted to return home.

Mailboxes remain near where houses once stood in Phelan, Calif. Thousands of people have been allowed to return their homes, or whatever’s left of them. (Christine Armario/Associated Press)

The family’s home and nearly all their belongings were destroyed in the blaze.

Santore said the family was “holding up,” but that Saturday evening when everyone was asleep she’d gone outside and cried thinking of the family’s lost pets and mementos. The Santores were out running an errand when the fire broke out and were unable to return to save anything.

Four dogs, six cats and a hamster left behind are missing.

A firetruck passes scorched cars and trailers burned by the Blue Cut fire in Phelan, Calif., on Friday. More people returned to their homes this weekend as firefighters made significant progress against a huge wildfire burning in Southern California’s San Bernardino National Forest. (Noah Berger/Associated Press)

“I’m hoping someone is stuck around hiding someplace,” Santore said. “And if I start calling, they might recognize our voices.”

In the meantime she has begun looking into how to replace birth certificates, their housing deed and other important documents they are unlikely to recover.

Prolonged drought

A prolonged drought has transformed swaths of California into tinderboxes, ready to ignite. Six other wildfires were burning in the state, including one in San Luis Obispo County that forced the closure of the historic Hearst Castle on Saturday. It remained closed Sunday.

That fire has destroyed 34 homes since it began August 13. It remained 35 per cent contained. Fire spokeswoman Jaime Garrett said the fire was growing in the opposite direction of the Hearst Castle. The castle is a popular tourist attraction and houses a large art collection that belonged to media magnate William Randolph Hearst.

The Blue Cut fire burns in Upper Lytle Creek near Wrightwood, Calif., Friday. (Noah Berger/Associated Press)

In rural Santa Barbara County, an 85-square-kilometre wildfire that forced the evacuation of two campgrounds was 20 per cent contained.

A nearly monthlong blaze burning near California’s scenic Big Sur area is not expected to be fully contained until the end of September. The fire has destroyed 57 homes and charred 345 square kilometres, authorities said. It is 60 per cent contained.