Southern California Wildfires

A firefighter battles the Cerrito Fire in Corona, Calif., early Wednesday morning, May 5, 2004. More than 1,000 people were evacuated in the northeastern Lake Elsinore area as the Cerrito Fire was whipped up by winds. A marine layer was expected to move into Southern California later Wednesday, increasing moisture that could help slow the spread of the fires.

The remains of trees burned in a wildfire this week are shown along Highway 79, near Temecula, Calif., Wednesday, May 5, 2004. Aided by cooler weather and diminishing winds, firefighters on Wednesday gained the upper hand on a trio of wildfires that have burned more than 22,000 acres and destroyed at least 14 homes in Southern California.

California Department of Forestry hand crews stand on a backfire while battling the Cerrito Fire in Corona, Calif., in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 5, 2004. More than 1,000 people were evacuated in the northeastern Lake Elsinore area as the Cerrito Fire was whipped up by winds.

Santa Barbara firefighter Capt. Mitch Reed turns his face from the heat from the Eagle fire near Los Caballos Road, east of Temecula, Calif., Tuesday, May 4,2004. Southern California's first wildfires of the season burned homes and brushlands and forced thousands of people to evacuate on Tuesday, portending what could be an especially dangerous and costly summer.

Flames dwarf a fire truck as the Cerritos Fire burns near Corona, Calif., Tuesday, May 4, 2004.

A Marin County firefighter keeps an eye on a fire as it shoots up a ravine just below a residence, leaving the home unharmed, in the Riverside, Calif., community of Lake Matthews, Tuesday, May 4, 2004.

California firefighters stand and watch the fire get closer to structures early Tuesday morning, May 4, 2004, in Corona, Calif. More than 800 acres has burned in the Spanish Trails above Lake Corona.

A structure inside the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony is burned to the ground after a wildfire swept through the area near Temecula, Calif., Monday, May 3, 2004. Hundreds of firefighters spent the first day of Southern California's 2004 fire season Monday battling three separate blazes that broke out in 100-degree heat and quickly blackened more than 2,000 acres.

A California Highway Patrol unit passes large flames from a wildfire that scorched the hills near Temecula, Calif., Monday evening, May 3, 2004.

Residents try to help fight a wildfire with hoses in a field in San Bernardino, Calif., Monday, May 3, 2004. Hundreds of firefighters spent the first day of Southern California's 2004 fire season Monday battling three separate blazes that broke out in 100-degree heat and quickly blackened more than 2,000 acres.

Two employees of Daart Engineering Co., Inc., left, and two firefighters, right, work to fight a fire at a nearby tire company in San Bernardino, Calif., Monday, May 3, 2004. The fire was spread by wind to the location from the nearby 215 Freeway.

A rainbow arcs over a tire company as water is sprayed on a smoldering fire at the company in San Bernardino, Calif., Monday, May 3, 2004. The fire began across the nearby 215 freeway and was spread by winds.

A firefighter walks the smokey area of a neighborhood which burned in a fire spread from the nearby 215 freeway in San Bernardino, Calif., Monday, May 3, 2004.

Chad Britton, a firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, sets backfires to rob a wildfire of fuel along Highway 79, Monday, May 3, 2004, east of Temecula, Calif. Southern California's 2004 fire season opened Monday with firefighters battling blazes that covered nearly 5,000 acres and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

Firefighters with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection set backfires to rob a wildfire of fuel along highway 79, Monday, May 3, 2004, east of Temecula, Calif. Southern California's 2004 fire season opened Monday with firefighters battling blazes that covered nearly 5,000 acres and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

A home burns to the ground in El Cerrito, just south of Corona, Calif., as a water-dropping helicopter flies overhead after a wildfire raced through the area Monday afternoon, May 3, 2004. The fire spread across 400 acres in less than three hours.

A Department of Corrections fire crew uses a hose on a fire burning along Highway 79, Monday, May 3, 2004, east of Temecula, Calif.

A Department of Corrections fire crew watches as a fire burns along Highway 79, Monday, May 3, 2004, east of Temecula, Calif. Hundreds of firefighters spent the first day of Southern California's 2004 fire season battling three separate blazes. The blazes broke out in 100-degree heat that quickly blackened more than 5,000 acres and destroyed two homes.

Santa Barbara County firefighters battle a blaze Monday, May 3, 2004, at the Emerson Oaks Reserve in Temecula, Calif. Hundreds of firefighters spent the first day of Southern California's 2004 fire season battling three separate blazes. The blazes broke out in 100-degree heat that quickly blackened more than 2,000 acres and destroyed two homes.

Firefighting crews gather on highway 79, Monday, May 3, 2004, east of Temecula, Calif. California's 2004 fire season opened Monday with firefighters battling blazes across 5,000 acres. The largest was a 2,500-acre fire in the hills of Temecula, but five additional blazes were spaced far apart in parts of four counties where temperatures had climbed to 100 degrees.