TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) -- The official beginning of Southern California's 2004 fire season began with more than 8,000 acres charred, soaring temperatures and mandatory home evacuations.
The largest wildfire was a 3,900-acre blaze in Riverside County. Four more were scattered across the region as temperatures climbed above 100 degrees in some places Monday.
Nearly a dozen firefighters among the thousands on the job were treated for injuries, including heat stroke and dehydration.
Authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of several homes in the path of the biggest Riverside County fire in the hills south of Temecula. They previously advised residents of about 100 homes to evacuate.
The fire destroyed several homes, as well as a house and workshop owned by the University of California. It was 30 percent contained early Tuesday. The Red Cross set up two shelters for evacuees.
Mike Witham, 57, fled his trailer in a truck with his motorcycle and his dog. He said he tried to stop to help other dogs, but flames trapped him along with police officers and firefighters, who waited four hours inside a nearby home as firefighters battled back the blaze.
``I will tell you, I was one scared puppy,'' Witham said.
Two additional fires burned in Riverside County. South of Corona in the El Cerrito area, a 1,600-acre blaze destroyed an abandoned building and threatened a number of homes, as well as nearby power lines. Another wildfire was southeast of Lake Elsinore, burning across 375 acres.
Elsewhere, a fire that broke out in the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County grew Monday night about 150 acres.
Firefighters said they had managed to slow a blaze that scorched 1,825 acres near the Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego County. No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.
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