STATE OF DISASTER: DAMAGE COSTS TO TOP $1 BILLION.

Byline: BETH BARRETT and DANA BARTHOLOMEW

Staff Writers

As Southern California fire crews began to get a handle on more than a dozen blazes that scorched the region, experts said damage costs will soar past $1 billion and could make it one of the costliest fire seasons in state history.

In Los Angeles County, eight wind-driven wildfires that raged through the area since last weekend were mostly contained by Wednesday -- and for the most part were out.

The cumulative local toll: 24 homes and two businesses destroyed; 21 outbuildings ruined; 12 homes and five businesses damaged; two empty trailers torched; and 40 vehicles and two bulldozers up in smoke.

And 97,071 acres blackened. In all, five firefighters and three other people were injured.

"We're looking really good," said Inspector Ron Haralson of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"Our percentages of containment are way up. We have a really good upper hand on almost all fires in Los Angeles County right now."

Costs rising

What began Saturday in a remote canyon north of Castaic eventually exploded into a firestorm of separate blazes across seven counties, each driven by galloping Santa Ana winds.

In San Diego County, officials said damage to more than 2,000 homes and businesses has topped the $1 billion mark.

The cost of L.A.-area fires also continued to rise, with the four-day price tag for the 52,000-acre Ranch Fire in the Angeles National Forest estimated at $5.5 million for more than 700 firefighters from multiple agencies, and four aerial units.

The total costs of the Canyon Fire in Malibu and the Buckweed Fire in the Santa Clarita and Castaic areas by Wednesday had reached $10 million for about 2,100 firefighters, helicopters and other equipment deployed.

Overall, the cost of battling the blazes that have consumed more than 400,000 acres, killed one and injured 45 from San Diego to Ventura counties was expected to climb to about $100 million today, said Dave Hillman, deputy director of the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The fire has cost $15 million to $18 million per day during the heavy Santa Ana winds, but as more aircraft are able to fly that tab is expected to rise even higher.

Candysse Miller, executive director of the Insurance Information Network of California, a nonprofit insurance trade association, said the firestorms are reminiscent of the 2003 Southland fires.

That year, the Cedar Fire in central San Diego County destroyed 2,200 structures and the Old Fire in San Bernardino County claimed 1,100, for a total insured loss of nearly $2 billion.

Damage from this week's fires will far outstrip those of the Laguna and the Topanga-Malibu fires of 1993. In Laguna, 441 structures were lost, with $350 million in insured losses; in Topanga-Malibu, 323 structures were destroyed with $375 million in insured losses.

The most destructive fire in state history was Oakland Hills in 1991 when 2,900 homes were lost and $1.7 billion was paid in insurance claims -- about $2.6 billion in today's dollars.

Hillman said most of the costs for the nearly 9,000 firefighters and 100 aerial units from across the country will be borne by Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Department.

Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Sam Padilla said that in addition to ground crews, up to a dozen helicopters dumped water onto the Canyon Fire; at another time, a half-dozen were dousing the Buckweed blaze.

Insurance claims

The county can expect to be reimbursed for about 75 percent of firefighters' overtime, said Carol Kindler, a manager in the county's Chief Executive Office.

In San Diego County, insurance companies set up claims offices and brought in representatives from other areas to handle displaced residents' claims.

State Farm spokesman Mike Rossman said the company established claims outposts throughout the county, including at Qualcomm Stadium, which is serving as an evacuation center for thousands of displaced residents.

"It's pretty intense," he said.

Warnings lifted

Harvey Ryland, former FEMA deputy director in the Clinton administration who now heads up The Institute for Business and Home Safety in Tampa, Fla., said the damage is a constant reminder that there's no such thing as a fireproof house.

Ryland, whose Santa Barbara home burned down in 1970 after embers blew through a protective screen into the eaves, said he was struck by the extent of this year's fires.

"The sheer magnitude is just staggering," he said.

But Los Angeles fire officials expect things to ease in the days ahead: By late Wednesday, high-wind warnings, advisories and red-flag alerts were gone.

In their place were hundreds of firefighters guarding against hot spots. Most roads in the Los Angeles area affected by the fires had been reopened and most residents had returned to their homes.

"Overnight, we didn't get much in the way of flare-ups," said Bruce Quintelier, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, the lead agency fighting the 51,000-acre Ranch Fire.

"It seems to be winding down."

By Wednesday, the fierce desert winds that blew an exceptional four days were dead. In their place was a pall of brown smoke hanging over the entire region. And a rain of gray ash across Los Angeles.

The dry air will turn humid on a returning sea breeze as cooler fall temperatures re-emerge.

"We've got a little trend of cooling, a little trend of warming, and a little bit of cooling again," said weather specialist Bonnie Bartling of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"Just like we had before the Santa Anas."

Staff Writer Susan Abram contributed to this report.

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 2 boxes, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) SAN BERNARDINO: Kindra Groff, 3, wearing a scarf over her mouth and clutching her teddy bear, is comforted by her parents while waiting in a line at a Red Cross evacuation center.

Michael A. Mariant/Associated Press

(2 -- color) LAKE ARROWHEAD: Flames move through the trees, closing in on one of the many alpine-style homes and rustic cabins in the isolated mountain village of Running Springs.

Jon Vidar/Associated Press

(3 -- color) SAN DIEGO: In the upscale community of Rancho Bernardo, entire streets were leveled and cars reduced to charred hulks of metal. On one street alone, 29 homes were destroyed.

Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

(4 -- color) RUNNING SPRINGS: After finding safety in Smiley Park, Sue Reynolds, 49, can't hold back the tears as she recalls the battle that she and her husband waged to save their home.

Thomas R. Cordova/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) As tireless efforts by firefighters and easing winds brought area blazes under control, residents such as Govinda Saba were allowed back home to sift through the ashes and pick up the pieces.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

THE TOLL

Box/Map:

Firestorm damage

Source: Daily News research

Warren Huskey/Staff Artist