The fire this time

Disaster | Families hit twice in four years by catastrophic wildfires face the prospect of another grueling recovery effort | Lynn Vincent

Lake Arrowhead

SAN DIEGO—Wildfires roaring through seven Southern California counties had by Oct. 25 torched 695 square miles, from the Mexican border to Malibu, and inland into the San Bernardino Mountains and the resort area of Lake Arrowhead. The state insurance department estimated the damage at more than $1 billon, including more than 1,600 homes destroyed, with at least 10 people dead.

Worst hit was San Diego County, where three blazes—the Witch Creek, Harris, and Rice fires—accounted for nearly three-quarters of the total acreage burned. In the northern suburb of Rancho Bernardo, entire streets lay in ash and rubble as at least 250 homes were lost in a domino-effect blaze touched off after a power line fell near Interstate 15.