This photo was taken by NRT member Rick Turner as his plane prepared to land Tuesday. Smoke is blowing west, toward San Diego.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has deployed National Response Team members the Reverend Bill Neely and Rick Turner to San Diego in response to a request from the Presbytery of San Diego. One Great Hour of Sharing funds have also been sent to the presbytery to assist in their response to the fires. The Reverends Beth Goss and Mark White continue to work with the Presbytery of the Pacific in their response.

Wildfires continue to blacken the Southern California landscape, scorching more than 400,000 acres, leaving an estimated 1,800 homes in ruins and causing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

On Tuesday, October 23, firefighters again had to cope with strong gusty Santa Ana winds of 60 mph that pushed walls of flames across the region from Ventura County in the north to San Diego County in the south. Some 10,000 firefighters were battling the fires on the ground and from the air with water-dropping helicopters and tanker planes with flame retardant.

Windy conditions kept some of the aircraft grounded during the day.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger described the extremely dry brush, hot weather and strong winds as the "perfect storm for a fire."

"But everyone, at the same time, complains about the weather," he said at a news conference in Lake Arrowhead. "But we can’t do anything about it. We have to just pray that the wind goes away, because as soon as we get rid of the wind, then the firefighters can really put an end to the fires all over the place."

A red flag warning remained in effect through Wednesday afternoon.

More than a dozen fires have been burning throughout Southern California, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes — the numbers ranged from more than 300,000 to 1 million people evacuated. Some 68,000 homes remained threatened.

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people took refuge at Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Another shelter was set up at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, which was also accommodating family pets and other animals, including horses and sheep.

Fire crews have been stretched thin trying to cope with both existing wildfires and new blazes that continue to erupt. New fires broke out in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino counties and evacuation orders were expanded in several locations throughout the region.

As the fires grew, so did their path of destruction. In Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs in San Bernardino County, mandatory evacuations were ordered throughout the entire mountain area.

More than 10,000 acres were burned by two separate fires there — the Slide and Green Valley blazes — with 400 homes destroyed. More than 1,500 homes remained threatened in the resort community.

Other evacuations were ordered Tuesday in San Diego County for the entire town of Julian, west of the city of San Diego, and on Palomar Mountain. Officials said Julian was without water and power.

Two of the major fires in the hard-hit county — the Harris fire in southeastern part of the county and the Witch blaze near Poway — scorched more than 275,000 acres and destroyed or damaged some 2,000 homes and businesses. The Harris fire was 10 percent contained; the much larger Witch fire was just 1 percent contained.

Other fires were also burning in the county, including the Rice fire near Fallbrook, which has burned 4,500 acres.

Two fires were also reported burning on the Camp Pendleton base, although they were not threatening any residences. Families at the Marine base have been told to be ready to evacuate.

In Orange County, the Santiago fire continued to rage, destroying 11 homes and threatening several thousand others in the Silverado and Modjeska canyon areas. The fire, which officials said was arson, has burned more than 18,000 acres. It was 30 percent contained.

Despite dire predictions about being able to contain the fires, there was some good news too.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes in some areas, including Scripps Ranch, Poway, Del Mar Heights, Chula Vista and Carlsbad in San Diego County.

In Malibu, officials reopened the heavily traveled Pacific Coast Highway, which had been shut down since the Canyon fire erupted in the Los Angeles County community early Sunday. The fire has burned 4,400 acres, destroyed six homes and damaged nine others. About 1,500 people remain evacuated. The fire was 15 percent contained.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, containment grew to 80 percent — up from 27 percent in the morning — on the 38,000-acre Buckweed fire near Canyon Country, Saugus, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita. The fire has destroyed 32 structures, including 15 homes.

Containment on the Magic fire, which was sparked Monday afternoon west of Interstate 5 south of the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, jumped to 93 percent. The fire, which has burned 1,750 acres, was stopped before it could move from Los Angeles County into Ventura County.

The Ranch fire, burning north of Piru and Fillmore in Ventura County, was 10 percent contained. The fire has scarred more than 47,000 acres — down slightly from previous figures due to more accurate mapping.

PDA continues to monitor the fires and is working with presbyteries in the affected areas to coordinate and effect an appropriate response. While some of the damaged or destroyed homes are in neighborhoods that are well insured, this disaster is likely to have an impact across economic classes. Southern California, like other densely populated areas, is home to many who are underprivileged, including families that have English as their second language.

While the full extent of damage is yet to be determined, PDA, working with the presbyteries, will help with the long-term recovery needs of the community. The presbyteries are best able to assess and determine specific needs.