While most of the smaller fires have been contained and some have been largely extinguished, three of them, the Harris and Witch fires in San Diego County, the Arrowhead fire in San Bernardino County, and the Santiago Canyon fire in Orange County, are still not fully contained, making it impossible for many evacuees to return to their homes. The Santiago fire moved west into Silverado Canyon and prompted new evacuations.

So far, over 790 square miles have been burned. There is a danger that desert wind gusts, blowing east to west, will return this weekend, fanning the existing blazes and causing new fires. The similar, but stronger, “Santa Ana” winds accelerated the fires last week.

Despite assurances from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George Bush that their needs would be met, thousands of victims confront the task of finding new shelter and perhaps new jobs.

A WSWS reporting team spoke with evacuees at the Red Cross temporary shelter at Steel Canyon High School in Spring Valley outside of San Diego. Maria Herbert teaches Spanish and is in the Master’s program at San Diego State University and her husband Randy is a small businessman. Maria said: “I’m here with my husband, our son, Randy Jr., 16, and our daughter, Paloma. Both our kids go to this high school. We had two houses that burned.”

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