FIVE FIRES, LOOKS SUSPICIOUS

JULIAN -- Investigators suspect an arsonist set several fires that
destroyed two homes and prompted evacuations early Tuesday near Julian, an
eastern San Diego County town that recently fought off a 62,000-acre wildfire.

Five fires were reported about 3:30 a.m. and sheriff's deputies began going
door to door warning residents to prepare to evacuate. The fires were
burning within about a mile of one another; all but one were fully
contained, said Lt. Guy Chambers, watch commander for the San Diego
Sheriff's Department.

"We suspect it's arson," Chambers said. Given that dozens of homes were
lost in the recent wildfire, he said, "for someone to purposely light a
fire is pretty sad."

The largest of Tuesday's fires, a 100-acre blaze about five miles east of
Julian, destroyed two homes and five other structures.

"We have it pretty much contained, but we're waiting for the winds. That's
what's going to dictate where it goes," Chambers said.

The fire was reported 80 percent contained Tuesday afternoon. It was
expected to be fully extinguished today, fire officials said.

About 350 firefighters were battling the blaze and there were no reports of
injuries, said Audrey Hagen, fire information officer for the California
Department of Forestry.

About 100 people voluntary left the small communities of Kentwood-in-
the-Pines and Whispering Pines. The town of Julian was not immediately
threatened, Hagen said.

The fires began in a canyon area of the rural region, about 60 miles
northeast of San Diego. The area is spotted with brush and trees that have
been dried out by drought.

Earlier this month, firefighters snuffed out the last remnants of the Pines
Fire, which began on July 29 near Julian when a National Guard helicopter
looking for marijuana plants clipped a power line.

That fire destroyed 37 homes, 116 barns and other outbuildings and 169 vehicles.