Mountain communities in California's Riverside County flee amid scorched earth
MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. - It was little more than a grave of scorched remains.
Appliances burned beyond recognition, a charred bathtub, twists of metal pipe. Slabs of concrete that once served as walls stood next to a chimney of blackened stone.
Signs of a caring owner - a filled birdbath, potted plants - were suddenly stark symbols of the past, before the Idyllwild home had been consumed by the Cranston fire.
The massive blaze that has sent thousands fleeing as it continues to rage through the San Jacinto Mountains is believed to have been sparked Wednesday by an arsonist, a troubling detail in a battle
