Temecula wildfire...seen from my backyard

[furluvcats]

Wildfire shuts I-15 stretch
Holiday traffic backed up for as long as 13 miles



10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 30, 2006
By JOHN ASBURY and SEAN NEALON
The Press-Enterprise



A 180-acre wildfire south of Temecula closed Interstate 15 in both directions Friday afternoon, trapping commuters in lines of traffic as long as 13 miles.


Frank Bellino / The Press-Enterprise
A moving van makes a U-turn on southbound Interstate 15 as traffic is turned around on the freeway to exit at the Rancho California Road offramp in Temecula.



Motorists who reached the main part of the fire at the Riverside/San Diego county line found flames as tall as 40 feet racing up hills. As a helicopter landed on the freeway to shuttle fire crews, ash and smoke reduced the visibility to nearly zero.

About 300 firefighters battled the flames. Two who were suffering from heat exhaustion were taken to a hospital, a fire official said.

By 8 p.m. Friday, the blaze was about 25 percent contained, enough to allow all four northbound lanes of I-15 to reopen. One southbound lane is expected to remain closed until sometime today, said California Highway Patrol Lt. Dennis Brunette.

At its high point Friday afternoon, the fire forced some motorists to drive on freeway shoulders to reach exit ramps as truckers pulled off the interstate and under trees to escape the 91-degree temperatures.

Streets in Murrieta and Temecula were clogged through Friday evening. One motorist said it took her six hours to drive from Riverside to San Diego.

Firefighters did not know the cause of the blaze Friday evening, but they said it started at 1:40 p.m. just north of the Border Patrol checkpoint. They hope to make sure it has no room to spread by 6 p.m. today and to extinguish it sometime Sunday, said Capt. Julie Hutchinson of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Within 20 minutes of the fire's start, it had spread far enough to leap across the freeway in two spots by about 2 p.m.

Flames came within 50 yards of the historic stone house that is a popular site for weddings and receptions at the Temecula Creek Inn golf course, said Douglas Leiber, general manager. About 150 guests and six staff members were evacuated for about an hour, he said.

The golf course was only singed in spots.

On the west side of the freeway, two camps with a few homeless people in them at the south end of Old Town Temecula were evacuated, according to Temecula police. The fire also came within a half-mile of two homes on the west side of hill, police said.

Hutchinson said firefighters were hampered by heavy brush, rough and steep terrain and winds that gusted to 20 mph. Helicopters dropped water from the golf course, and air tankers dropped red fire retardant.

By 2:15 p.m., the freeway was closed between the Rancho California Road exit in Temecula and Rainbow Valley Boulevard exit in San Diego County. By about 4:30 p.m., northbound lanes reopened. Southbound lanes started reopening about 6 p.m.

Virginia Lopez, 54, left Riverside at 2 p.m. with her father, Robert Clark, 82, to attend her daughter's graduation from a journalism workshop in San Diego. She was making good time until 2:45 p.m., when she reached the Murrieta Hot Springs exit of Interstate 215. It took her four hours to travel five miles through Temecula.

"It was horrible," she said by telephone from San Diego. "Gratefully, we were in an air-conditioned car."

They missed the ceremony.

Sandy Leslie, of Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County, drove with her husband, David, to the Temecula Creek Inn on Friday. The trip ordinarily takes 90 minutes. On Friday, it took three hours and 45 minutes.

"We just saw the smoke off in the distance from the freeway," she said. "We had no idea it was so close to our destination."

Several truckers stuck on the freeway just north of the Rancho California Road exit used the delay to get some rest.

Tony Lopez, 52, had started his day in Oxnard and was heading to Escondido.

"Traffic is traffic," he said after waiting two hours. "I'll just lose my day."

Javier Ramirez was driving his flatbed truck stacked with wood when he encountered the backup in Temecula. He pulled over and rested under a tree.

"I'm not in a hurry," said the 44-year-old resident of Tijuana, Mexico. "I'm just gonna sit here, relax. What are you gonna do?"

Staff writers Meghan Lewit, Claudia Bustamante, Lauren Pond, Michael Fisher and Barbara McLean contributed to this report.

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[vbhoutex]

Keep us posted!!! Stay safe!!!

[furluvcats]

Yeah...we're totally safe...its just caused a nightmare in traffic delays...

[wxmann_91]

Any updates? My dad is driving up to Las Vegas via I-15 later today northbound.

[Stephanie]

I'm glad you're safe and I hope it's contained by now!

[furluvcats]

Yeah, its over...thank God...there was another fire a few miles N of us and 15 was closed again, but thats all over with too.,..I tell you, it seems that fires are a bigger threat than earthquakes here in So Ca....

[wx247]

Too close for comfort there Shannon? My thoughts and prayers are with all of those in harm's way with all the fires across the West.