California Wildfires: SAN DIEGO

October 28, 2003 - Descanso, California, USA - A horse run inside a horse racing track as the fire approaches Descanso on Tuesday. A mandatory evacuation of Julian and other nearby communities was ordered Tuesday and by late afternoon, some of the buildings in Julian were lost. The largest wildfire in California history rages on. Many fires caused by arson. Over 20 deaths, 2,500 homes lost. Fire spans 800,000 acres (1,000 sq miles), the size of Rhode Island. The separate blazes are scattered along an arc from the Southern California suburbs northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico.