Homes evacuated during wildfires hit by scumbag looters

Homes evacuated during wildfires hit by looters
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
October 31, 2003

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) - A number of homes evacuated during the surging wildfires have been targeted by looters, causing more worries for displaced residents and prompting some who stayed behind to arm themselves.

Authorities in the mountain resort area of Big Bear, where about 80,000 residents have been evacuated, stepped up patrols after three homes were burglarized.

Sheriff's deputies arrested four people - two of them in the act, said Sgt. Brooke Wagner of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
"We actually caught one of them in the house," Wagner said.

Several other arrests were made after outstanding felony warrants were discovered during traffic stops.

"We're stopping everything that's moving and walking," Wagner said. "If you don't have a reason to be up here, don't be up here."

Some 135 deputies were assigned to patrol the area from Big Bear to Crestline, a stretch of about 25 miles.

Joseph Willard, 45, a land surveyor and Crestline resident of 15 years, said concerns about looting led him to sneak back up the mountain to check on his home after being evacuated to a shelter in Hesperia.

"I could tell from TV reports that my house was OK," Willard said. "I was worried about looting."

Ed Ham, 61, decided to stay behind in his Crestline home and said he lived through four "terrifying" days. On Thursday, he was taking phone calls from residents asking him to check their homes for damage.

"Looting has been minimal," said Ham, who owns a home remodeling business and has lived in the area for 28 years. "The people who are around know each other and won't allow it."

Kim Robinson, 46, who lives near San Bernardino, said she saw strangers at some of the evacuated homes.

"Homeless people came and tried to make homes in some of the empty places," she said. "I guess they thought they'd stay."

One homeowner from Cedar Pines Park said a friend who stayed behind had caught someone looting a neighbor's house.

"He pulled a shotgun on him and told him to get out," Ty Lasher said.

Firefighters were warned to be cautious when dealing with residents who had refused to flee the fire. Some had armed themselves after hearing reports of looting.

One resident of a rural area south of Julian in San Diego County became alarmed when he saw people walking near his property with flashlights and waved a gun in the face of a visitor who turned out to be a firefighter.

"When you've got people in rural areas listening to the news hearing about looters, they get nervous," said Steve Simpson, a safety officer for the state Department of Forestry.