MADELEINE BRAND, host:
From NPR West, this is DAY TO DAY. Alex Chadwick is on assignment. I'm Madeleine Brand. Coming up, we'll talk politics with NPR's senior correspondent Juan Williams. He's in Tennessee covering the tight Senate race there. First though, a massive Southern California wildfire has consumed and blackened nearly 24,000 acres in an area near Palm Springs. It's been determined that arson was the cause.
Four firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service died yesterday. A fifth is clinging to life with burns over 90 percent of his body. We'll hear about captain of that team in a moment. First, we go to reporter Steven Cuevas from member station KPCC, who is on the front lines of a fire that is still out of control.
STEVEN CUEVAS: The belly of the blaze is deep in a series of canyons in the foothills above the town of Banning. The fire broke out just a few miles from here and quickly swept over the steep, rocky terrain, fueled by erratic Santa Ana winds.
(Soundbite of fire and wind)
CUEVAS: These are flames burning right up along the side of Highway 243 above Banning, and the wind's picking up, and I'm getting out of here.
By mid-morning, flames had blackened the hills along this dangerously narrow and curvy two-lane road that cuts right through the fire zone. The smoldering ruins of ranch homes, windmills and other structures dotted the landscape.
Mr. LARRY HOGANSON(ph) (Local Resident): You know, we can see the fire pass by. Like right now, it's passing by behind my house.
CUEVAS: In the small community of Poppet Flat, resident Larry Hoganson was among the few holdouts. Hoganson is chief of the community's volunteer disaster evacuation team. He had just finished hosing down his house and was going to clear some brush and turn on a sprinkler at a neighbor's.
Mr. HOGANSON: I'd had the flu for three days, so it's not been easy for me to do much except soak my place down with water. That's minor compared - you saw my friend on TV. He lost his house, and his son got burnt. They're okay, but they just built that house.
CUEVAS: Early Thursday morning, a five-man fire team with the U.S. Forest Service was protecting nearby structures when their engine was overtaken by flames. Three firefighters died at the scene; a fourth died at an area hospital; the fifth is in critical condition.
Fire investigators believe the fire was deliberately set, and they're treating the case as a multiple homicide. But right now, California Department of Forestry spokesman Bill Peters says everyone is focused on putting out the wildfire. Peters spoke as powerful wind gusts kicked up at the fire's command center in Beaumont.
Mr. BILL PETERS (California Department of Forestry): We'll mourn later. They have to do a job. They have to maintain their professionalism so that they don't get injured and so that we're of value to the public.
CUEVAS: By nightfall Thursday, a long ribbon of flames was bearing down on the outskirts of Banning. Fire crews from the Morongo Indian Reservation were using John Venema's(ph) property as a staging area to protect several small ranches while Venema prepared to spirit his stable of horses to safety.
Mr. JOHN VENEMA (Local Resident): They wanted us to evacuate, but like I said, I've got all these animals, and in fact I've got eight dogs in the garage - little Shitzus and dachshunds and Chihuahuas.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. VENEMA: Well, this has been my life right here, and I just couldn't walk away from it.
CUEVAS: By Friday, dozens more residents near Banning were urged to evacuate. They joined about 700 other evacuees. Firefighters, meanwhile, are being met with another punishing round of erratic Santa Ana winds. The dry, windy conditions are expected to continue through the weekend. For NPR News, I'm Steven Cuevas.
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