Southern California blazes blamed for 20 deaths
 |  A firefighter drives away from a fire on State Highway 18 near Running Springs, California, on Wednesday. Story Tools
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JULIAN, California (CNN) -- More than 13,000 firefighters battled wildfires in five southern California counties Wednesday, fighting to maintain gains made in more favorable weather.
The so-called Cedar Fire in San Diego County swelled to more than 234,000 acres, making it the largest brush fire in the state since 1932, according to the California Department of Forestry.
That fire also claimed the life of a firefighter -- the first since the wildfires began last week. In all, 20 deaths are being blamed on the fires, which have caused more than $2 billion in damage, scorched more than 649,000 acres and destroyed about 2,400 homes.
While as many as 13,655 firefighters are working to contain the fires, Gov. Gray Davis said he needs more people and equipment.
"We could use even more assistance, because our folks are getting tired and they need a little rest," he said at San Bernardino International Airport after taking an aerial tour of some of the hardest hit areas in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles.
Davis said neighboring states have pledged more resources to help fight the fire from the air, which is the only way some of the remote, mountainous areas can be reached.
Davis' office estimates the damage from the fires so far to be at about $2 billion. He signed a proclamation at the airport Wednesday that said towns that had surpassed their firefighting budget did not have to pay their normal share of state firefighting costs.
He said he plans to ask Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to request that the federal government absorb 100 percent of the state's firefighting costs. The last time the government reimbursed a city or state for the costs of a large disaster was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In San Diego County, fire crews battling the Cedar Fire have been holding back the fire from the mountain town of Julian, a former gold-mining town of 3,500 now known for apple pies, said Lora Lowes, a spokeswoman for the firefighting teams there.
"They're still holding the line there -- so far, so good," Lowes said.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department Wednesday confirmed that the bodies of two victims were found in the town of Ramona and another victim was found in a home in Alpine, bringing the total deaths in the Cedar fire to 14.
The firefighter who died was killed in an incident near Julian, where three other firefighters were injured, state officials said. The firefighter was from Marin County, California, said Don Strickland of the state's Office of Emergency Services.
That fire, which was 15 percent contained Wednesday, has destroyed nearly 1,000 homes.
Flames were advancing toward Julian from the south and west, and about 800 of the 3,300 people battling the Cedar Fire were in the Julian area, Lowes said.
The fire has forced the evacuation of about 50,000 people in San Diego County. Authorities Wednesday afternoon also recommended that residents evacuate the communities of Pauma Valley and nearby Santa Isabel.
Wind hampering firefighting efforts
A few hours drive up the Pacific Coast, ocean winds helped firefighters battling the 105,000-acre Simi Valley fire in Ventura County and parts of northwestern Los Angeles County.
But the same winds had firefighters scrambling Wednesday afternoon to protect houses in the Stevenson Ranch community of Los Angeles County.
The blaze was 25 percent contained Wednesday, but it made a sudden move toward several houses before firefighters backed by water-dropping helicopters pushed it back.
"We had to scramble," said Roland Sprewell, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman.
The Pacific winds pushed other fires into stands of dead, dry timber devastated by drought and insect infestations that burn "just like grass," said Bob Monsen, a California Department of Forestry spokesman.
Firefighters faced a similar problem in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, where the merged Old/Grand Prix fire spread toward the resort communities of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear. Advancing flames forced the evacuation Wednesday of most of the city of Hesperia, said Joe Neu, a spokesman for the firefighting effort there.
That 105,000-acre combined fire has been blamed for the deaths of four people, all age 70 or older, who suffered heart attacks.
The fires have been blamed on arson, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has released a sketch of one of two men they are seeking connected to the Old Fire.
President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration for the region, making federal assistance available to residents of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
Schwarzenegger asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help setting up "one-stop centers" to allow residents to apply for disaster aid at a single location.
"Anyone and everyone I've talked to has guaranteed me they will do everything the can to help us in California," Schwarzenegger said during a trip to Washington to meet with congressional leaders.
The 40,000-acre Paradise fire, which has been blamed for two deaths, was 20 percent contained but moving up Mount Palomar, home to an observatory housing the 200-inch Hale Telescope, Lowes said.
The observatory has been shut down by the fires, but spokesman Scott Kardel said the facility is in no immediate danger.
CNN Correspondents Jeff Flock, Miguel Marquez, Frank Buckley and Daryn Kagan contributed to this report.
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