California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in areas where wildfires continued raging on Monday.
"It is a tragic time for California," Schwarzenegger said while on a tour to the San Diego County, more than 100 kilometers south of Los Angeles.
"I declared a state of emergency under which all resources are available" for seven counties threatened by raging wildfires across Southern California, the governor said.
The fast-moving fire driven by strong winds along the rugged US-Mexico border near San Diego left one person dead and eight injured, including four firefighters, authorities said.
The San Diego fire has also charred hundreds of hectares of land and forced the evacuation of 250,000 people, according to county officials.
In Malibu, outside Los Angeles, a brush fire has scorched nearly 900 hectares of land, destroyed at least five homes and a church, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.
Despite the hard work of hundreds of firefighters, only 10 percent of the fire was contained on Monday morning, according to authorities.
The fire, which started Sunday morning, may have been sparked by downed power lines, said county fire inspector Sam Padilla.
Since then, flames have been whipped at times by Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. About 1,400 firefighters were battling the flames this morning, aided by water-dropping helicopters.
"It's been a long night," Padilla said.
Winds kicked up overnight and early this morning, making it difficult for the helicopters to make pin-point drops on flames in the area.
About 1,500 people were evacuated as the flames tore through brush and then began jumping from rooftop to rooftop in an area studded with multimillion-dollar homes.
The Malibu Presbyterian Church was destroyed. Several businesses in the Malibu Colony Shopping Center were damaged.
Among the homes destroyed was the Kashan Castle, also known as Hodge Castle, a 10,500-square-foot hilltop landmark built in 1978.The castle was put up for sale in March for US$17 million.
All classes were canceled on Monday at the Pepperdine University in Malibu. Classes were also canceled at all Malibu public schools.
Mandatory evacuations were in place for several areas in Malibu. Officials said they prepared to order more evacuations.
Throughout Southern California, more than 12,000 hectares of land have already burned, and more areas are threatened.
Schwarzenegger said the wildfires have caused the loss of human life and serious injuries, but he did not give details.
The governor's emergency proclamation allows the state Office of Emergency Services (OES) to deploy emergency personnel, equipment and facilities and provide local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act.
"The wildfires are being driven by dry conditions and high winds, and these conditions are expected to continue for several days," the governor said.
These wildfires, by reason of their magnitude, are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2007)
