Fires in California kill one, damage multiple homes by Corina Ciubotaru

Fires in southern California are causing major damage to Malibu homes and it looks like the rampage is going to last for a few more days. It's the peak of the wildfire season and so far one person has died and eight others were injured by the fires. Santa Ana winds have been blowing hard lately and the hot weather made things even worse, destroying three homes and two commercial buildings, while several other houses were damaged. 250,000 people left their homes for fear of the fires that scorched 100,000 acres of land from Santa Barbara to San Diego and California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in seven counties. This allows the regional firefighting forces to request help from the Office of Emergency Services and firefighters were called also from the neighboring states of Nevada and Arizona. The winds are expected to calm down tomorrow but still firefighters have their work cut out trying to avoid more damage to the celebrity homes in the Malibu area. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were also deployed to put out fires from the sky but with the wind blowing at 90mph, it looks like Mother Nature is not going to let people go back to their ordinary lives any time soon. Official investigations suggest the fires in Malibu were caused by a power line falling to the ground due to high wind, while the one in Orange County was arson. Rainfall in California was very little this year, at one fifth of the average.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires;_ylt=AuA1Zb96wq8293av.y8m0MSs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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