CALIFORNIA BURNING The fires raging in Southern California have likely caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and businesses, the state's insurance commissioner said on Tuesday. "This is just a terrible disaster; it's going to be one of the worst ever," California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner told Reuters. He said the total destruction would easily be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, exceeding damages from a fire in Northern California at Lake Tahoe this summer. "In South Lake Tahoe where we just finished working with the victims there over the last several months, you had 254 homes destroyed at a total cost of $150 million," he said. "Here the damage is much more widespread, more than a thousand homes destroyed so far, plus, you know, scores of businesses." The most populous with almost 38 million residents and the most economically significant U.S. state, California has faced a constant stream of natural disasters throughout its history, from earthquakes and fires to mudslides. In the last five years, more than 25,000 wildfires have caused more than $1.5 billion in damage, Poizner said. In recent days, officials have counted more than 1,000 homes and hundreds of business destroyed from the fires, but a full picture of the damage was unclear. "They haven't been able to get close enough to the areas to get an accurate count because a large number of the homes that have burned are in the outback," said Alan Nevin, a housing economist with San Diego-based MarketPointe Advisors. The fires ringing San Diego come amid a difficult time for the city, which faces a housing slump as it sorts out the damage to its finances from a funding scandal in its pension fund for city employees. "Ironically whenever there is a disaster it stimulates economic activity during rebuilding," said Alan Gin, an economist with the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego. "We've lost 5,000 construction jobs over the past year so this will put some of those people back to work. That will be financed by insurance money flowing in from outside the county." MANY COMPANIES CLOSED From corporate headquarters to retail chains, many area companies told employees to tend to family needs first and consider working from home if at all. "It's quite chaotic and we're all in the midst of it," said Emily Kilpatrick, spokeswoman for wireless technology and semiconductor developer Qualcomm Inc. Few showed up to San Diego corporate headquarters of companies such as Qualcomm, Jack in the Box Inc.'s, Sony Online Entertainment and pet supply company Petco. At least 16 fires have burned unchecked since Sunday in a region stretching from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border 230 miles to the south. In Irvine, 85 miles northwest of San Diego, computer maker Gateway Inc encouraged employees to work from home, said spokesman David Hallisey, who was not in the office himself. Starbucks closed about 120 of its stores in San Diego and Ventura counties, and as of Monday evening, 16 McDonald's restaurants in Southern California were closed, a spokeswoman said. The fires disrupted tourism, a major source of revenue in a region famed for its beaches and temperate climate. The famed San Diego Zoo closed its 80-acre (32-hectare) Wild Animal park after suffering some damage, including the loss of a condor breeding facility. Another top tourist draw, SeaWorld, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, was also closed. Wildfires burned unchecked on Tuesday in Southern California, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to evacuate, at least 700 homes destroyed, and little hope for relief from the hot desert winds fanning the flames. The National Weather Service said "strong and damaging winds" will continue near Los Angeles through mid-afternoon, and high wind warnings may be issued for some areas Tuesday night. In San Diego, the hot, dry winds fanning the flames were expected through Wednesday. More than a dozen fires, whipped by hot, dry Santa Ana winds gusting to 70 miles per hour have swept unchecked over the past two days from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border 230 miles to the south. Some 200,000 acres have burned, overwhelming fire crews and state emergency services. One person has been killed and more than three dozen injured. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger summoned aid from 1,500 National Guard troops, including 200 from the Mexican border, to help with firefighting, evacuations and crowd control. Some 250,000 people who had been ordered to evacuate ahead of the flames spent the night out of their homes, about 10,000 of them at a San Diego area football stadium that had been converted to an emergency shelter. Neighboring states, including Nevada and Arizona, rushed in crews and equipment. President Bush early on Tuesday declared an emergency in the state and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in the seven counties stricken by wildfires. In San Diego County south of Los Angeles, some 500 homes and 100 other buildings were reported burned to the ground by the Witch Fire. In the mountain communities of Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs, outside Los Angeles, some 130 homes were destroyed and fire crews fought to save others in the path of the flames. "This is a tragic day for San Diego County and for California," Schwarzenegger said. "As you know, 250,000 people have been evacuated." Schwarzenegger said FEMA officials would arrive in San Diego on Tuesday morning to start working with those harmed by the fires, as a result of state and local efforts to push through a federal disaster declaration. "American cities and states have learned from mistakes made in the past. We want to make sure we are prepared and we will be here every step of the way," he said. Some 10,000 people displaced from their homes in the San Diego area spent the night at Qualcomm Stadium, normally home to San Diego Chargers football team. Among them were about 300 people evacuated from nursing homes. Volunteers set up tents for families and seniors in the walkways of the stadium. "There's no word on our house," said Don Parmaley, who was at the stadium with his wife, Rose. "We were able to find a hotel room last night but they had to evacuate the hotel this morning." Fire officials said that while the seasonal Santa Ana winds that had whipped the flames were expected to abate on Tuesday, humidity would remain low and crews were expected to fight an uphill battle in terrain made tinder-dry by a drought. The firestorms closed major state highways, schools and businesses and plumes of thick black smoke drifted across much of Southern California, blotting out the sun. Everywhere I looked was red "The sky was just red. Everywhere I looked was red, glowing. Law enforcement came barreling in with police cars with loudspeakers telling everyone to get out now," said Ronnie Leigh, 55, who fled her mobile home in northern Los Angeles County as smoke darkened the sky over the nearby ridge line. In Orange County, a 1,049-inmate jail was being evacuated because of heavy smoke, sheriffs spokesman Jim Amormino said. Inmates were being bused to another facility in Irvine. All San Diego Police Department officers and off duty detectives were ordered to return to work to help with evacuations. The fires have burned about 100,000 acres 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. More than a dozen people were being treated at the UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center for burns and smoke inhalation, including four fighters - three in critical condition, officials said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants. One blaze devoured more than 5,000 acres in northern San Diego County and forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000. Several structures were burned on the edge of town and sheriffs deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, San Diego sheriffs Lt. Phil Brust said. 10/23/07