Monday, August 9, 2004 (SF Chronicle)
STATE/Hot, windy weather fuels fires statewide
Patrick Hoge, Cecilia M. Vega, Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writers
 
 A brushfire in the northern Hayward hills briefly threatened homes and
scared residents who saw flames quickly eating up the eucalyptus trees
near their property.
 It was only one of the many fires across the state that were fueled by the
hot, windy weather. Nearly 6,000 acres of land burned in California during
weekend wildfires that forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their
homes and left firefighters struggling to battle flames in triple-digit
summer heat.
 A firefighter in Riverside County suffered heat exhaustion, but no serious
injuries were reported in the many fires. One home in Calaveras County was
destroyed.
 Nick Warhol and his neighbor Bob Smith, who own small ranches on Old
Quarry Road in unincorporated Hayward, first noticed the fire after
hearing a helicopter take six laps over their homes.
 They quickly got to work to protect their houses. Smith, 68, jumped on his
tractor to dig a trench around the homes, while Warhol, 47, picked up a
rake and started beating the flames.
 Then Warhol and his wife, Judy Long, 47, started moving the animals --
seven horses, five indoor cats, two dogs and a blue-fronted Amazon parrot
-- out with the help of ranch caretaker Gisele Mitsuk, 28. With seven
Arabian and Appaloosa horses and only one trailer with space for two,
Warhol jumped on a dirt bike and grabbed the reins of the horses to ride
them to the top of a hill that was not threatened by the flames.
 By Sunday night, the ranches seemed to be out of harm's way. One giant
eucalyptus tree ablaze on the top of the hill on their property was doused
by a helicopter with a direct hit, the neighbors said.
 "We are awful lucky," Mitsuk said.
 The grassfire, which began about 3:38 p.m. near D Street and Machado Court
in unincorporated Hayward, burned about 25 acres in a heavily timbered
eucalyptus grove surrounded by homes before being contained about 5:30
p.m., according to fire officials.
 At one point, the trees caught the roofs of six homes on fire, but
firefighters were able to douse the flames and prevent any homes from
sustaining serious damage, according to Hayward Battalion Chief George
Silva.
 Warhol said it was scary to see the fire approaching and it was a good
reminder that he had to clear the trees around his property.
 "You think to yourself, it could be the big one. It is a little bit of a
wakeup call for us," he said.
 As smoke filled the sky, Denise Simmons who lives in Thurston Court said
she and her neighbors were nervously standing outside watching and
waiting.
 "I'm watching and getting ready to get into the car with my kids and my
dog. I know where my pictures are and I would grab those," said Simmons,
38. "Everything around here is eucalyptus trees, and they go up fast."
 Firefighters were planning to spend the night watching for flareups along
the Hayward hills fire site.
 In San Jose, more than 100 acres of brush burned near Mount Hamilton and
Kincaid roads in a fire that started about 2 p.m. in a creekbed, according
to Jim Dethlefson, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection.
 No structures were threatened in the remote area, but the fire was still
burning last night.
 Across the state, firefighters struggled to deal with flames whipped by
winds on the hot day.
 "It could have been a lot worse," said Lisa Heimeyer, a volunteer in the
Tuolumne-Calaveras unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection. "We're making headway. We still have an awful lot of people
out here working these fires, so we're not totally out of danger."
 In Riverside County, a fire that started about 1 p.m. in the foothills of
the Santa Rosa Mountains burned 350 acres and threatened the small
ranching community of Anza, according to Ruth Wenstrom, a spokeswoman for
the San Bernardino National Forest.
 No homes had burned and the fire was 75 percent contained by 8 p.m.
Sunday. The evacuation order was lifted at 6:30 p.m. and the more than 200
people from 50 homes who had been evacuated were allowed to return home.
 In Calaveras County, three separate fires burning since Friday have
scorched more than 4,300 acres and destroyed a mobile home and an
outbuilding.
 The largest, called the Copper Fire, is about 4 miles southwest of
Copperopolis and was caused by a vehicle with mechanical problems
traveling east on Highway 4, according to the Department of Forestry.
 The fire, which burned about 3,445 acres, was about 90 percent contained
Sunday morning. A day earlier, residents of two nearby subdivisions were
evacuated and later allowed back into their homes.
 A second fire near Avery was 90 percent contained on Sunday after burning
876 acres and the two structures. One mile away, another fire burned 82
acres and was 90 percent contained Sunday.
 More than 200 people were temporarily evacuated from their homes in the
three fires.
 In Southern California, where a fire in the Angeles National Forest burned
1,200 acres east of Interstate 5 near Castiac, peak summer temperatures
were expected to break records Sunday, causing fire officials to prepare
for the worst.
 "The problem is going to be the high temperatures and the difficult
terrain," said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dee Dechert. "It's a lot of
rolling-type terrain. You lose your footing out there."
 A mobile home park was threatened Saturday, forcing residents to evacuate,
Dechert said. They have since returned to their homes.
 More than 650 firefighters from around the region were called in to battle
the blaze, which began Saturday afternoon and was expected to be contained
by Sunday evening.
 The cause remains under investigation.
 Chronicle staff writer Tanya Schevitz contributed to this report.E-mail
the writers at phoge@sfchronicle.com, cvega@sfchronicle.com and
dbulwa@sfchronicle.com.