Firestorm 3

A deer runs past flames from the Old Fire near the 15 Freeway in Devore, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003.

Ventura County firefighter Martin Gonzalez stands watch on top of a barn as firefighters provide protection for buildings of the Mentryville in Pico Canyon in Santa Clarita, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003. They were able to direct the fire around Mentryville where historic buildings mark the one of the state's first oil towns.

U.S. Forest Service firefighter Brian Theler from the Cleveland National Forest battles the Cedar Fire late on Oct. 28, 2003, in Descanso, Calif. The Cedar Fire was among 10 fires buring throughout Southern California.

Firefighter Paul Drasil of the San Bernardino Fire Dept. stands along Highway 18 as the Old Fire burns in the background in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003. Fire crews set backfires along the road to prevent the fire from jumping the road onto nearby Rim of the World High School.

Shasta County firefighters fight a wildfire as it threatens historic buildings of the Mentryville in Pico Canyon in Santa Clarita, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003.

Law enforcement officers watch as a fire burns along Interstate 8 near Alpine, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003. Firefighters set the fire in an attempt to contain an approaching wildfire.

Firefighters Dan Lucero, at left, and Mark Hillskotter, second from left, of Fort Jones, Calif., monitor the Old Fire along highway 18 in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003. Fire crews set backfires along the road to prevent the fire from jumping the road onto nearby Rim of the World High School.

Fire moves down the High Desert side of the San Bernardino Mountains during the "Old Fire," Oct. 28, 2003, near Crestline, Calif.

Firefighters watch a monstrous cloud of smoke approach as a 10-mile-wide wall of fire climbs the mountains in the Lake Cuyamaca area just south of the town of Julian, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003.

Ventura Fire Department Capt. Randy Greenlee works the front face of the Cedar fire outside Julian, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003. Ten-thousand firefighters were on the front lines throughout the state, battling California's deadliest wildfires in more than a decade.

A Channel 4 news van burns along Highway 18 in Skyforest, Calif., in the San Bernardino National Forest during the Old Fire, Oct. 28, 2003. More than 10,000 firefighters from around the West were at work in California, battling 10 major fires that have burned more than a half-million acres.

A fire captain walks in the San Bernardino National Forest near Rim of the World, Calif., while setting a back burn during the Old Fire, Oct. 28, 2003.

A firefighter walks Highway 18 near Skyforest, Calif., while helping fight the Old Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, Oct. 28, 2003.

Smoke from the Old Fire overshadows neighborhoods in the northeast section of Highland, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003.

Flames engulf trees killed by the bark beetles at Santa's Village during the Old Fire in San Bernardino National Forest community of Sky Forest, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003.

Flames cast an orange glow as they work their way down the hill as lights from the rig of a Los Angeles County Department strike team casts a red glow on homes on Royal Oaks Drive in Stevenson Ranch, Calif., as the Simi Valley fire turned north, Oct. 28, 2003. No homes had been lost by sunset.

Los Angeles County firefighters light backfires behind Felton School in Pico Canyon at Mentryville state historic park in Stevenson Ranch, Calif., as the Simi Valley fire turned north, Oct. 28, 2003.

A fire crew pours water onto smoldering debris at one of the homes lost in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego, Oct. 28, 2003. Residents of the area had not yet been allowed back to the neighborhood.

A firefighter surveys the damage from a wildfire that destroyed about 300 homes in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego, Oct. 28, 2003. Throughout San Diego County, the fire has destroyed about 800 homes.

A building burned to the ground by the Old Fire is seen Oct. 28, 2003, in Skyforest, Calif.