(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-23 09:03

The sprawling Del Mar Fairgrounds on the coast was also turned into an evacuation center, along with high schools and senior centers.

At least one of the fires, in Orange County, was believed to have been set. And a blaze threatening the homes of the rich and famous in Malibu might have been caused by downed power lines, authorities said. Another blaze was started by a car fire. Flying embers started new fires at every turn.

San Diego County fires were burning so fast that authorities did not have an accurate count of how many homes had been destroyed.

"It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world," Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant. Asked how many homes had burned, he said, "I lost count."

Tom Sollie, 49, ignored evacuation orders in Rancho Bernardo to help his neighbors spray roofs on his street with water. His home was untouched, but he watched a neighbor's house reduced to nothing but the remnants of a brick chimney. "The house went up like a Roman candle," Sollie said.

He added: "If we weren't here, the whole neighborhood would go up. There just aren't enough fire trucks around."

The blazes in San Diego County and elsewhere erupted one after another over the weekend. Things got worse Monday, when several new fires erupted and other fires merged. Parts of seven Southern California counties were ablaze.

All San Diego police officers and detectives were ordered to return to work to help move people to safety and handle other fire-related emergencies.

Firefighters complained that their efforts to stop the flames were delayed when they were confronted by people who refused to leave their homes.

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

As flames, thick smoke and choking ash filled the air around San Diego County's Lake Hodges, Stan Smith ignored orders to evacuate and stayed behind to help rescue his neighbor Ken Morris' horses.

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