Six charred bodies killed in Californian wildfires found in burned home near San Diego

Rescuers have found six bodies burned in the wildfires in Southern California. The bodies were found in the wooded area near Barrett Junction, on the outskirts of San Diego. The area is used by illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the border of Mexico to enter the United States.

Photo: Six charred bodies killed in Californian wildfires found in burned home near San Diego

Authorities said they discovered the bodies Thursday afternoon but did not know how long ago the victims died or whether the flames were responsible for their deaths.

"They could have been out there a while," said Paul Parker, a spokesman for the San Diego County medical examiner's office. They were tentatively identified as three men and one woman.

Two bodies were discovered in the rubble of a burned home in San Diego County. Like a 52-year-old man killed Sunday in a fire along the Mexican border, the pair had been urged to evacuate.

Their deaths brought the number of people killed by flames to three, while seven died of other causes connected to the evacuations.

Flames have consumed more than 487,000 acres (197,000 hectares) - about 760 square miles (1,970 square kilometers) - and at least 1,800 homes since the weekend. About 24,000 homes remained threatened, as several major fires were no more than 30 percent contained in San Diego County and the Lake Arrowhead mountain resort area in mountains east of Los Angeles.

Despite the deaths, there were hopeful signs Thursday. Firefighters took advantage of calmer winds and cooler temperatures to launch an aerial assault on several stubborn blazes.

Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for most residential areas of San Diego and shelters emptied rapidly. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said an evacuation center at Qualcomm Stadium, which had housed as many as 10,000 people, would be closed at noon on Friday.

President George W. Bush surveyed the damage in the hard-hit community of Rancho Bernardo, where he draped his armed around a woman who had lost her home.

"We want the people to know there's a better day ahead - that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life's going to be better," said Bush, who earlier declared seven counties a major disaster area, making residents eligible for federal assistance to help them rebuild.

His visit came just hours after rescue crews found the bodies of a married couple in Escondido. Neighbors told authorities they last saw the two around midnight Monday. They were reported missing sometime after that.

San Diego County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday had taken a cursory look around the couple's home and found no one inside. When the two did not turn up during the day, a search-and-rescue team was sent to the site and found one body Wednesday night and a second set of remains early Thursday.

At least 52 firefighters and about 30 other people have been injured.

In the Los Angeles area, fire crews worked to tamp out many wildfires, including two that burned 21 homes and were now fully contained. But the focus shifted to flames still raging in Orange and San Diego counties, particularly in rural areas near the Mexico border where more evacuation orders were issued.

San Diego officials said Thursday the number of homes destroyed had surpassed 1,400, about 400 more than previously reported. That would bring the number of homes destroyed in the seven affected counties to at least 1,800.

The Santa Ana winds that had fueled the flames were all but gone by Thursday, but San Diego County remained a tinderbox.

Crews were battling a 38,000-acre (15,380-hectare) fire in northern San Diego County that was burning on Palomar Mountain.

Fred Daskoski, a spokesman for the state fire department, said there was no immediate threat to the mountain's landmark observatory, which housed the world's largest telescope when it was completed in 1908.

In the Lake Arrowhead area, fire officials said 16,000 homes remained in the path of two wildfires that had destroyed more than 300 homes.

Both fires remained out of control, but were being bombarded by aerial tankers and helicopters.

A 26,000-acre (10,520-hectare) blaze in Orange County, near Los Angeles, has been declared arson. Five people in San Diego, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties have been arrested on suspicion of arson, but none has been linked to any of the major blazes, authorities said Thursday.

A sixth man, Russell Lane Daves, 27, was shot to death by San Bernardino police Tuesday after he fled officers who approached to see if he might be trying to set a fire