20,000 Homes Evacuated as Wildfires Burn Near San Diego

Wildfire Rages Near San Diego

Flames surround a large Coronado Hills neighborhood hill-top home that started to catch fire near Cal State San Marcos as crews battle a large wildfire threatening homes on May 14, 2014 in San Diego.

Allen J. Schaben—Los Angeles Times/Polaris

A wildfire burns along the hillside in San Marcos, San Diego on May 14, 2014.

Irfan Khan—Los Angeles Times/Polaris

Inmates from Oak Glen Fire Camp in Riverside retreat to higher ground as the flames start to move close while they work to control the fire near Oriole Court in Carlsbad, Calif. on May 14, 2014.

Hayne Palmour IV—AP

A bush is fully engulfed in flames near San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Sandy Huffaker—Reuters

A firefighter works in a canyon to help extinguish the fire north of San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Mike Blake—Reuters

A helicopter drops water to extinguish fire and protect homes north of San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Mike Blake—Reuters

Firefighters work to set up a hose as the porch of a home burns in San Marcos, in the San Diego county on May 14, 2014.

Stuart Palley—EPA

A home burns on top of a hill in San Marcos, San Diego county on May 14, 2014.

Stuart Palley—EPA

A firefighter on structure defense duty watches flames in San Marcos, San Diego county on May 14, 2014.

Stuart Palley—EPA

A Cal Fire airplane drops fire retardant on brush near Cal State San Marcos as crews battle a large wildfire threatening homes on May 14, 2014 in San Diego.

Allen J. Schaben—Los Angeles Times/Polaris

Fire moves quickly through the Coronado Hills in San Marcos, San Diego county on May 14, 2014.

Nick Morris—Demotix/Corbis

Jonathon Collopy, a resident of Fairbanks Ranch neighborhood, watches the fire burn near his house outside San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Sam Hodgson—Reuters

A firefighter battles the fire near San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Sandy Huffaker—Reuters

Helicopters fight fire burning near Fairbanks Ranch in San Diego on May 13, 2014.

K.C. Alfred—Zuma Press

Cal Fire crews battle a wildfire in the Deer Springs area east of Fallbrook in San Diego on May 14, 2014.

Allen J. Schaben—Los Angeles Times/Polaris

A helicopter helps firefighters battle a blaze in San Marcos, San Diego county on May 14, 2014.

Sam Hodgson—Reuters

Firefighters battle the fire near San Diego on May 13, 2014.

Sandy Huffaker—Reuters

Houses smolder after a wildfire destroyed them, Carlsbad, Calif., May 14, 2014.

K.C. Alfred—Zuma Press

A Long Beach fire fighter looks out over a burned-out canyon in San Marcos, San Diego county on May 15, 2014.

Mike Blake—Reuters

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Unseasonably warm temperatures and boisterous winds triggered evacuation orders in San Diego on Tuesday, where more than 700 acres have been torched by wildfires.

Authorities called for the evacuation of more than 20,000 homes in and around San Diego earlier in the day, but officials allowed many to return to their homes on Tuesday night as temperatures dropped in the area.

“We believe we have a pretty good handle on it,” said San Diego Fire Chief Javier Mainar. “We hope to do some more work through the night and into tomorrow, but I think the largest part of the emergency has passed.”

An extended period of drought in tandem with unusually high temperatures has left large swaths of the state’s landscape ripe for burning.

“Fire season last year never really ended in Southern California,” Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Associated Press.

California officials have responded to more than 1,350 fires since the beginning of January, which is double the average number of blazes at this time of year.

[AP]

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