The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, San Diego

Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased more than 500,000 people away. Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that's not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react - tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring. "If it's this big and blowing with as much wind as it's got, it'll go all the way to the ocean before it stops," said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. "We can save some stuff but we can't stop it."

Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 640 square miles, killing one person, destroying more than 1,300 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.