California wildfire forces hundreds to flee, three hurt as homes burn

BANNING, Calif. — A thousand firefighters battled a growing wildfire in the inland mountains of Southern California early Thursday, trying to save small communities where some home have been lost and an estimated 1,500 residents were forced to flee.

Flames roiled along foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains in Banning Pass 90 miles east of Los Angeles. The fire moved eastward, pushed by a steady wind from the west, said Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

A helicopter drops water on a garage fully engulfed in flames sparked by a wildfire that ravaged more than 6,000 acres near Banning, California.

The fire was estimated at 6,000 acres — or more than 9 square miles — late Wednesday, but Hutchinson said the size was expected to increase when an aircraft returned from a morning mapping flight.

An aerial view of the Silver Fire, which had consumed an estimated 6,000 acres by late Wednesday.

Two firefighters and a civilian were injured. Hutchinson had no details but said the civilian's injuries were "significant."

The Silver Fire rages near homes in the community of Cabazon near Banning, California.

Fire officials estimated 15 structures burned, but could not say how many were homes. TV news helicopters and photos from the scene showed several houses in flames.

They included the Twin Pines home of Dave Clark, whose parents were killed in a house fire in the city of Riverside in April 2012, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Prosecutors alleged Clark's sister Deborah Clark set that fire, and she was awaiting a mental-competency hearing to see if she was competent to stand trial for her parents' deaths.

A DC-10 firefighting jet drops fire retardant near Banning, California. A thousand firefighters battled the ferocious flames of the wildfire, which had charred more than 6,000 acres of land by late Wednesday.

A photograph taken by the Desert Sun newspaper showed Clark talking on his cellphone with the home fully engulfed in flames behind him.

A car consumed by the massive fire that ravaged more than 9 square miles near Banning, California.

"He said he lost everything, he couldn't talk," brother Jeff Clark told the Press-Enterprise.

A firefighter battles wild flames of a massive wildfire near Banning, California. Fire officials said at least 15 structures burned, but could not say how many were homes.

Evacuation orders covered the Silent Valley Club, a private RV resort, the rural communities of Poppet Flats, Twin Pines, Edna Valley and Vista Grande, and portions of Cabazon, a city along Interstate 10 at the base of the mountain range.

Evacuation centers were set up at high schools in Hemet and Banning.

The fire has consumed an estimated 6,000 acres, more than9 square miles, by late Wednesday.

Margaret Runnels of Poppet Flats was at work when her house came under an evacuation order. She was in Banning waiting for her husband to collect pets and valuables from their house.

A firefighter near a home burned down from the wildfire that ravaged more than 9 square miles by late Wednesday.

"I was hoping they would let me back up to get some personal items I knew my husband would forget like a jewelry box and stuff that means stuff," a crying Runnels told the Desert Sun. "You always tell yourself to prepare everything but you never take the stupid time to do it."

The fire broke out about 2 p.m. Wednesday about 90 miles outside Los Angeles, California.

Thirteen helicopters and six air tankers were assigned to the blaze.

Most of Southern California's severe wildfires are associated with Santa Ana winds caused by high pressure over the West that sends a clockwise flow of air rushing down into the region. This week's fire, however, was being fanned by a counter-clockwise flow around a low pressure area over northwest California.

An aerial view of the wildfire near Banning, California, that forced more than 1,500 residents to flee. A thousand firefighters were battling the flames in the inland mountains.

It was the second major wildfire in the San Jacinto Mountains this summer. A blaze that erupted in mid-July spread over 43 square miles on peaks above Palm Springs, burned seven homes and forced 6,000 people out of Idyllwild and neighboring towns.

The latest fire also burned in the footprint of the notorious Esperanza Fire, a 2006, wind-driven inferno that overran a U.S. Forest Service engine crew defending a Twin Pines home. All five crew members died. A local man was convicted of murder and arson for starting the fire on a Cabazon hillside and was sentenced to death.