CAMPO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say the body recovered inside a burned house was that of a missing man who ignored orders to evacuate an area affected by the Southern California wildfires.
A fire spokesman says the man's body was found inside a home near Campo, in San Diego County. Officials have not identified the man, other than to say he was reported missing by neighbors who were concerned when they saw his only vehicle parked outside.
Neighbors told U-T San Diego the man was 82-years-old and with one leg.
Firefighters are battling to contain the wildfires that have destroyed 20 homes and threatened several hundred more in rural areas.
Crews have been working against winds gusting up to 30 mph. The 3-square-mile fire is churning slowly through hilly brushlands in a desert near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The blaze is about 40 percent surrounded.
%@AP Links
222-a-09-(Daniel Berlant (bur-LANT'), fire information officer, California Dept of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in AP interview)-"grow very rapidly"-Fire information officer Daniel Berlant of CAL FIRE says firefighters are struggling to get a handle on the San Diego County wildfire. (24 Sep 2012)
<<CUT *222 (09/24/12)>> 00:09 "grow very rapidly"
221-a-17-(Daniel Berlant (bur-LANT'), fire information officer, California Dept of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), in AP interview)-"San Diego County"-Fire information officer Daniel Berlant of CAL FIRE says Southern California wildfires that have already destroyed many homes continue to whip through rural areas. (24 Sep 2012)
<<CUT *221 (09/24/12)>> 00:17 "San Diego County"
APPHOTO CADIU101: In a Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 photo, a home burns on Tierra Del Sol Road near the community of Boulevard, Calif. Evacuations were ordered in the area because of a brush fire. No injuries were reported. (AP Photo/UT San Diego, Charlie Neuman) SAN DIEGO COUNTY OUT; NO SALES; COMMERCIAL INTERNET OUT; FOREIGN OUT (23 Sep 2012)
<<APPHOTO CADIU101 (09/23/12)>>
APPHOTO CADIU102: In a Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 photo, fire department vehicles line a section of Tierra Del Sol Road in San Diego, Calif. Firefighters raced the winds Monday morning to contain Southern California wildfires that destroyed 20 homes and threatened several hundred more in rural areas. (AP Photo/UT San Diego, Charlie Neuman) SAN DIEGO COUNTY OUT; NO SALES; COMMERCIAL INTERNET OUT; FOREIGN OUT (23 Sep 2012)
<<APPHOTO CADIU102 (09/23/12)>>
