Fighting a Firestorm

Joe McGowan With TIME reporting by Coco Masters

Tom Sollie is the†kind of neighbor†you want to have around when disaster strikes. Last week, a blanket of black smoke covered his neighborhood, Rancho Bernardo, in San Diego, California. Raging flames hopscotched around the houses on his block. But instead of abandoning his neighbors, Sollie, 49, helped them spray their rooftops with water. Even so, not every home was spared from the flames. Sollie watched a neighbor's house burn until there was nothing left but a brick chimney. "It went up like a Roman candle," he says.

Sollie was one of the lucky ones. His house was untouched, even as more than a dozen wildfires roared across Southern California. They blazed a trail of destruction in seven counties, from northwest of Los Angeles through San Diego to the Mexican border. By October 25, the fires were responsible for at least eight deaths and 58 injuries. More than 500,000 residents were forced to evacuate in San Diego County alone--half the number of people who fled Hurricane Katrina two years ago. About 1,500 homes were burned. Some 720 square miles--an area almost half the size of Rhode Island--was left charred by the flames.

More than 7,000 firefighters, including volunteers from other states and Mexico, struggled to save lives and contain the fires. At times, it seemed hopeless. "It looked like the end of the world," said Mitch Mendler, a firefighter in San Diego.

One of the fires was set on purpose. But all of them were propelled by hot weather, strong winds and a severe drought. Last week, temperatures in Southern California were about 10 degrees above average, reaching 100?F in some areas. Hot weather and little rainfall have dried up grasses, shrubs and trees, turning them into fuel that can catch fire easily.

The lethal combination was made worse by the Santa Ana winds. The hot, dry winds blast westward from the desert and down the mountains every autumn. This year, the Santa Ana winds have been stronger than usual, with some gusting more than 100 miles per hour. These powerful winds have acted as nature's blowtorch, shooting 200-foot walls of flame in all directions and scattering embers.

As smaller blazes merged into larger, more dangerous ones, firefighters had difficulty keeping up and containing the unpredictable fires. The high winds also prevented emergency workers from flying aircraft that could spray water and firefighting chemicals. As a result, fires were "popping up all over the place," said one San Diego County spokesperson.

As the flames raced closer, Californians had to make spur-of-the-moment decisions. Beckie Samuels, 54, and her son Garrett, 17, quickly gathered a few items from their home before fleeing to safety. "We took photo albums, jewelry and passports," Beckie told TIME. "When you only have a few minutes, you just take what is important."

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the government's handling of that disaster angered many Americans. This time, relief efforts were quick and organized. On Wednesday, President George W. Bush declared the seven scorched counties a major disaster. On Thursday, the President traveled to California for a close-up view of the devastation. "The people need to know a lot of folks care about them," he said.

Losses could total $1 billion in San Diego County. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger projected that his state would need about $75 million in federal aid. But no one can say when conditions will return to normal. Much depends on the weather. By Thursday, temperatures had fallen and the Santa Ana winds had weakened. Although fires continued burning near San Diego, several fires in Los Angeles County had been contained.

Now, survivors are looking to the future. When Matt Nowak's family fled their home in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego, they knew it could be the last time they ever saw it. But they also knew they would survive. "This is one of the safest places in the world to live," he told TIME. "It was scary, but we have hope."