LOS ANGELES -- Authorities by Tuesday morning had issued a new round of mandatory evacuations to residents in parts of San Diego County.

The San Diego County Department of Emergency Services said about 3,800 households were told to evacuate in Wildcat Canyon and Multh Valley, where the Witch Fire is burning. Evacuees were sent to Santana High School.

And about 1,800 households in North Jamul and Indian Springs were told to evacuate the Harris Fire. Those residents can find shelter at Qualcomm Stadium.

Tuesday AM Video
Live Video: KNSD Coverage (When Available)

"I'm just standing here watching my life go up in flames. This is just too unbelievable," said Kathie Browning, who fled before dawn Monday with her husband, their two grown children and their cats. "This can't be happening to me."

Browning's home was one of about 500 destroyed in northern San Diego County. More than a dozen wildfires driven by gale-force winds charred the equivalent of at least 374 square miles in seven Southern California counties.

As winds gusting to 70 mph pushed the flames, California officials pleaded for help from fire departments in other states. The federal government planned to send six water-dropping aircraft Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told The Associated Press.

"It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world," Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant.

The fires were eerily reminiscent of those in late October and early November of 2003, when flames in many of the same areas killed 22 people and destroyed 3,640 homes.

Video From San Diego:

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On the Interstate 15 overpass, dozens of residents watched along with Browning as flames raced along a ridge, randomly devouring ranch and two-story houses. Flying embers ignited wood-shingled roofs, or ignited eucalyptus and palm trees that burned hillsides and torched nearby buildings.

Witnesses said they watched flames jump west over the 10-lane freeway.

"The flames were like 100 feet high and it moved up the hill in seconds. It was at the bottom, it was in the middle, and then it was at the top," said Steve Jarrett, who helped a friend evacuate his Escondido home.

By late Monday night, evacuations were ordered for a portion of the oceanside community of Del Mar in north San Diego County. Solana Beach -- about 15 hilly miles away -- was under voluntary evacuation orders.

During the day, about 10,000 evacuees in San Diego County sought shelter at Qualcomm Stadium, many staring silently at muted TV reports of the fire from bleachers where 70,000 fans had cheered on the Chargers a week earlier. The parking lot looked like a cross between a tailgate party and a refugee camp.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived after dark to a more festive atmosphere, with live music and mountains of catered food. The crowd hooted and hollered as he passed through, and Schwarzenegger later declared that the people of this makeshift city "are very happy."

Schwarzenegger spent nearly half an hour visiting with people who have been evacuated by the wildfires.

Images From San Diego:

Injured Firefighters Transported
Crews Battle Harris Fire
Night-Fire From Ramona
Witch Creek Fire Ground Images
Viewer Images Of Fire, Smoke
Firefighters Contain Fire At Apt Complex
Monday's Devastation

The governor said he was moved by the stories residents shared with him. He said he spoke to a man in a wheelchair who said people had attentive to his physical needs. One woman told Schwarzenegger she was impressed that diapers and other supplies were available to those with babies, he said.

Schwarzenegger praised San Diego's evacuation efforts, and said the state of California and cities across the country have learned from the mistakes of Hurricane Katrina.

As flames, thick smoke and choking ash filled the air around northern San Diego County's Lake Hodges, Stan Smith ignored orders to leave and stayed behind to help rescue a friend's horses.

"It's hard to leave all your belongings and take off, and the bad thing is you can't get back in once you leave," Smith said.

Besides, said Smith, "Lots of time the fire doesn't ever come. It's come really close before. I've seen it so bad you couldn't even hear yourself talk over the flames and ash blowing everywhere."

Tom Sollie, 49, ignored evacuation orders in Rancho Bernardo to help his neighbors douse roofs on his street with water. His home was untouched, but he watched a neighbor's house reduced to nothing but the remnants of a brick chimney. "The house went up like a Roman candle," Sollie said.

"If we weren't here, the whole neighborhood would go up," he added. "There just aren't enough fire trucks around."

Fire near the San Diego Wild Animal Park led authorities to move condors, a cheetah, snakes and other animals to the fire-resistant veterinary hospital on the grounds of the park. The large animals, such as elephants, rhinos and antelope, were left in irrigated enclosures.

The world-famous San Diego Zoo was not immediately threatened.

One person, a resident of the U.S.-Mexico border town of Tecate, died in a fire southeast of San Diego. More than a dozen people were hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation, including 11 firefighters. Three were listed in critical condition, officials said.

Flames forced the evacuation of the San Diego community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000.

Christine Baird, 42, was ordered to evacuate her apartment in the Rancho Bernardo area at 5:30 a.m. She moved to California from Canada earlier this year.

"Instead of snow we had ash all over the car," she said. "This is all new for me. We've got no family in the area, so there's really nowhere else to go."

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