'WORST NIGHTMARE' FIRE RAGES THROUGH LAKE ARROWHEAD RESORT AREA.

Byline: Evan LaGasse and David Schwartz Staff Writers

LAKE ARROWHEAD - Walls of flames fueled by thousands of tinder-dry and diseased trees ripped out of control through the San Bernardino Mountains in popular resorts Wednesday as firefighters fought a losing battle against the firestorm.

A similar battle played out in the mountains of San Diego County where two major fires were close to merging into a single inferno that threatened to destroy the historic mining town of Julian.

One firefighter from Novato was killed and three others were injured when trapped by flames near Julian. It was the first firefighter fatality and 20th death in the weeklong fire siege.

``This is our worst nightmare,'' U.S. Forest Service spokesman Pat Boss told The Associated Press.

Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear and other San Bernardino Mountains resorts turned into eerie ghost towns under a heavy pall of smoke, with tens of thousands of residents ordered to evacuate from the path of the seemingly unstoppable Old Fire.

The toll from the fires - previously estimated at $2 billion - could reach several times that in the coming days. Cooler temperatures today and the chance of rain Friday offered the best hope of firefighters being able to get the upper hand.

Driven by ocean wind gusts up to 25 mph, a 200-foot-high wall of fire advanced to the edge of Lake Arrowhead, its 9,000 full-time residents gone, firefighters trying to make a stand against the flames.

Dozens of homes went up in flames at Cedar Glen, CedarPines Park and other small communities near Lake Arrowhead.

The arson-caused Old Fire started Saturday morning just outside San Bernardino's city limits and roared into the mountains above, killing four people, destroying more than 500 homes and causing an estimated $3.7 million in damage. About 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.

Tom Sherman of the Bureau of Land Management said the fire is the worst - ``by tenfold'' - he's seen in his 40-year career in which he has helped battle blazes including the Bear Fire of 1970 and the Panorama Fire of 1980.

It represents the worst possible conditions for all three factors in firefighting: topography, air and fuel, he said.

The fuel: acres of trees dead and dying from the bark beetle infestation and ``four, five, six years of drought,'' Sherman said. Humidity also was low.

The terrain is mountainous on all fronts, providing the incline for the fire to spread itself quickly.

Overnight, the wildfire jumped Cajon Pass and moved toward Summit Valley and Hesperia on one front, while its back end continued to devastate the mountains, hovering dangerously close to Running Springs and Green Valley Lake after making its way up Highway 18.

``We have a defensive strategy because there's no way we can fight 15 miles of flame,'' said U.S. Forest Service Division Supervisor Marty Hamel.

Bulldozers took out large areas of vegetation at the site in an attempt to create a buffer between the fire and a local gas station. Firefighters stood by to employ their full arsenal of hoses and foam to push the fire past the station's pumps, propane tanks and trucks.

By early afternoon, dozens of homes were burning.

``There's fire on so many fronts, it's not even manageable at this point,'' said Chris Cade, a Forest Service fire prevention technician, as he watched a pillar of smoke he estimated at 9,000 feet rise into a hazy sky thick with ash. ``I am at a loss what you can do about it.''

Almost all the emergency workers looked exhausted, fighting back yawns and going on adrenaline.

``It's going to be awhile,'' Sherman said. ``It's going to be up to Mother Nature.''

Officials promised that hundreds more firefighters would be dispatched to beleaguered mountain communities as the Old Fire became Southern California's most dangerous.

``All new resources, any new resources, will be put to the Old Fire,'' said Larry Benson, spokesman with the Southern Operations Coordination Center in Riverside.

On Southern California's other major front, The Associated Press reported that about 100 fire engines encircled Julian, a town of about 3,500 that is a popular weekend getaway renowned for its vineyards and apple orchards.

But as winds picked up, floating embers sparked spot fires near town and forced some crews to retreat. Some two dozen engines and water tenders, headed to Julian, were forced to turn back when flames swept over Highway 78, just east of Santa Ysabel.

South of Julian, about 90 percent of the homes had been destroyed in Cuyamaca, a lakeside town of about 160 residents. Charred cows lay by the side of the road, and stone entryways stood in front of mountains of rubble that had been houses.

``Everything's kind of happening all at once. These fires are trying really hard to tie in with each other,'' said Bill Bourbeau, safety officer for the Cleveland National Forest, who was with a crew along Highway 78. ``It's tremendous.''

San Diego County fire officials have worried for days that the 233,000- acre Cedar Fire and the 50,000-acre Paradise Fire would merge into a huge, single blaze that would make it nearly impossible to keep it from reaching Julian.

``There are ranches and little communities which make it really difficult to fight a fire like this. ... It's almost overwhelming,'' Bourbeau said. ``It is so big, we're still trying to get a handle on the organization part of it. It just seems like it never ends.''

Staff Writers Leigh Muzslay and Joe Nelson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 2 boxes, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dozens of burned homes, like the one above at Lake Arrowhead, are already in its wake as the seemingly unstoppable Old Fire rages on Wednesday.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) At nearby Cedar Glen, right, weary firefighters fight another losing battle.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Another house is engulfed by flames Wednesday as the Old Fire rages through the San Bernardino Mountains and turns Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear and other evacuated resorts into eerie ghost towns under a heavy pall of smoke.

(4 -- color) no caption (Firefighter)

Brett K. Snow/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) After filling up on water from Lake Arrowhead, a helicopter flies off to drop its load. Heavy clouds of smoke impeded the air attack while firefighters waged a defensive ground battle.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer

Box:

FIRE FATALITIES

Box/Map:

THE SOUTHLAND WILDFIRES

MAJOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

SOURCE: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and fire and law enforcement officials

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