By Martha Mendoza
The Associated Press
LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. — Standing on the shore of a scenic mountain lake near the scorched ruins of his $1.6 million home, James Towery cupped his hands and yelled into a sky thick with smoke.
“I think that’s enough for one guy,” he shouted, just hours after flames left only a smoldering foundation and charred chimney where his house once stood.
The extent of the destruction wrought so far by wildfires in this popular mountain vacation spot will not be known until Tuesday, when crews are scheduled to make the first full tally of destroyed homes. The devastation came four years after a 90,000-acre fire burned 300 Lake Arrowhead homes and was responsible for six deaths.
At least 168 houses have been destroyed in two fires that erupted Monday in and around Lake Arrowhead about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Firefighters were hampered by strong winds, as the blazes continued to burn out of control early Tuesday.
A nearby community, Crestline, also was evacuated.
Flames in the parched, forested San Bernardino Mountains — whipped by the same Santa Ana winds that have spread wildfire across Southern California — burned nearly 2,000 acres, with no estimated containment.
“There’s a lot of devastation,” said Bob Stephenson, a flower shop owner, as he watched a house he and his wife had almost bought burn to the ground.
His wife, Michelle, pointed to several chimneys surrounded by charred remains.
“These were million dollar homes. They need to thin the forest and they don’t,” she said.
Dead and dying pine trees stripped bare by bark beetles provide ample fuel for the blazes. More than a million beetle-infested trees have been cut in the San Bernardino National Forest, but even those fire-prevention efforts were no match for the infernos that spread through the mountains on Monday.
A massive wall of flame incinerated whole blocks of homes while leaving others virtually untouched. At some homes, only fireplaces remained standing.
Victor Cocchia, who owns a house that was still standing as evening approached, was unfazed about what might come with the night.
“I’ve been in earthquakes in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexico City. When I lived in Florida, we had hurricanes. I was in New York on 9/11,” Cocchia said. “Wherever you live, you’re not going to be able to isolate yourself from danger.”