CALIFORNIA WILD FIRES DESTROY OVER 700 HOMES, FORCE 250,000 TO EVACUATE

From Reuters:

Wildfires burned unchecked on Tuesday in Southern California from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to evacuate, at least 700 homes destroyed, and little hope for relief from the hot desert winds fanning the flames.

The National Weather Service said "strong and damaging winds" will continue near Los Angeles through mid-afternoon, and high wind warnings may be issued for some areas Tuesday night. In San Diego, the hot, dry winds fanning the flames were expected through Wednesday.

At least 13 fires, whipped by hot, gale-force Santa Ana winds have swept unchecked over the lower half of the state over the past two days, overwhelming fire crews and state emergency services. Some 200,000 acres were torched, one person killed and more than three dozen injured.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger summoned aid from 1,500 National Guard troops, including 200 from the Mexican border, to help with firefighting, evacuations and crowd control.

Meanwhile, some 250,000 people who had been ordered to evacuate ahead of the flames spent the night out of their homes, about 10,000 of them at a San Diego area football stadium that had been converted to an emergency shelter.

SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO BAN SUPERCENTERS

The San Diego City Council voted to ban any retail store with more than 90,000 square feet with at least 10% of that space devoted to selling groceries and other merchandise that is not subject to sales tax. The average Wal-Mart Supercenter is 185,000 square feet and sells groceries. The vote was 5-3 for the ban. Mayor Jerry Sanders has vowed to veto the ban, but the City Council can override a veto with five votes.

AP at Yahoo!