California firestorm continues

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California

Property damage from this week's devastating Southern California wildfires totals at least one (b) billion US dollars in San Diego County alone, officials said on Wednesday.

San Diego county's director of emergency services said at least 1,200 homes had been destroyed in the county, a number that officials believed would rise. That brings to roughly 1,500 the number of homes destroyed in the seven-county region that has been ablaze since Sunday.

The announcement of San Diego's staggering losses came as President George W. Bush signed a major disaster declaration for California in the wake of wildfires that have burned about 410,000 acres (165,925 hectares) and forced at least a half-million people to evacuate.

Forecasters predict the Santa Ana wind whipping up the wildfires will begin to weaken late on Wednesday afternoon, when cool sea breezes are expected in the fire ravaged region.

Pictures taken by KABC on Wednesday in Santiago Springs, showed fires still burning as thick grey smoke hung dormant across an amber coloured sky at dawn. Mayor of San Diego Jerry Saunders, told residents "you have got to conserve power today. We have no choice".

"We have got to do everything as a community we can to fight this fire, that means conserving water it means conserving energy, it means staying off the roads whenever possible and because of the smoke in the air a lot of people need to stay indoors as much as they can today," Saunders said.

The change in weather could provide an opportunity for greater aerial assault and help firefighters beat back the most destructive blazes, a Homeland security spokesman said.

Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 others have been injured since the blaze erupted four days ago. One person was killed by the flames, and the San Diego medical examiner's officer listed four other deaths as connected to the blazes.