Fall is fire season in Southern California. It is the time of the year when warm and dry conditions combine with a scorching wind called the Santa Ana to create perfect conditions for wildfires to start and spread.
On October 26, 2003, firefighters battled flames on multiple fronts from Los Angeles to the Mexican border as California’s worst round of wildfires in at least a decade raged out of control. San Diego was one of the hardest hit areas, where a fire emergency was declared. The San Diego County fires were started by a lost hunter who started a signal fire.
The Santa Ana winds occur when high pressure to the north over the Great Basin causes winds to blow in a counter clockwise direction around the high. These easterly winds warm and dry out as they travel down the western slopes of the Sierra Mountains. They accelerate as they squeeze through the canyons east of Los Angeles and San Diego, sometimes reaching over 70 mph. The hot, dry winds can fan flames into an inferno.
In addition to the winds, hot temperatures and low humidities, hundreds of thousands of dead trees were helping the fires spread. The trees were killed by a bark beetle infestation that was plaguing the area after years of drought had weakened the trees. Rainfall amounts during the year had been near normal, which was a mixed blessing, as it allowed grasses to grow, providing abundant fuel for the fires as they started.
In just seven days in October 2003, ten fires in five counties had burned over 430,000 acres and consumed over 900 structures. At least fifteen people died as a direct result of the wildfires.
