Kiwi rescues family from US fires

Reuters

UH OH: Firefighters watch flames burn towards the homes they are trying to protect in the town of Jamul, California.

Reuters

EXHAUSTED: Firefighters sleep by the roadside after fighting fires in Lake Hodges, near San Diego, California.

Reuters

LOST: A fire burns on a property in the Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego, California. Flames destroyed or threatened homes from humble forest cabins to luxury villas.

Reuters

FLYING FIGHT: A firefighting helicopter drops retardant to slow flames burning near homes in the far eastern part of San Diego County.

Reuters

RAMPAGE: Wildfires stoked by fierce winds have burned unchecked across Southern California for a third day with 300,000 people in San Diego alone evacuated.

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A family visit turned into a rescue mission for an expatriate Kiwi caught up in the fires in southern California.
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Renee Cohen, 29, was on a farewell visit to American relatives near San Diego on Tuesday when she was caught in the fires that have razed hundreds of homes and forced 500,000 people to flee.

Cohen and husband Neil, an American, will return to settle in New Zealand this week after living in Florida for five years.

Cohen said her relatives had decided to evacuate their home in Poway, north of San Diego, and had spent a night preparing to leave.

"We were driving up during the day to see them and the sky was black, like midnight," she said.

The relatives had to fit their most treasured belongings into a pick-up truck and the Cohens' car, take their dog and leave their home to its fate.

The news had since been good from the Poway area, with effective firebreaks being established in the hills to stop the flames.

Cohen said smoke had spread to Los Angeles, where the air had a brownish tinge to it "over and above the usual LA smog".

Cohen, who is expecting her first child, is from Wellington.

California's insurance commissioner says the fires have probably caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to homes and businesses.

"This is just a terrible disaster; it's going to be one of the worst ever," California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said.

The total destruction would easily be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Analysts with Moody's Economy.com estimated San Diego County will lose $45 million daily from disruptions caused by the fires.

- With Reuters

- © Fairfax NZ News