The Old Fire was a wildfire that started on October 25,
2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains of the U.S. state of
California. It was one of at least a dozen wildfires
burning around Southern California at this time (which
included the Cedar Fire, the largest fire in California
history). Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the fire burned
91,281 acres (369.4 km²), destroyed 993 homes and caused 6
deaths. The final cost of the fire was $42 million dollars.
A USFS report on the "true" combined costs of the 2003 Old
Fire, Padua, and the Grand Prix wildfires which burned at
the same time was nearly $1.3 Billion. When cleanup,
watershed damages and other costs are considered beyond the
mere "bill" for firefighting and property damage, wildfire
impacts are much higher.
The fire threatened San Bernardino and Highland, as well as
the mountain resort communities of Cedar Glen, Crestline,
Running Springs and Lake Arrowhead and forcing upwards of
80,000 residents to evacuate their homes. This was one of
the many fires that hit Southern California in 2003 causing
billions of dollars of insured and uninsured fire damage.
Fire insurance rates in the outlying areas went out
dramatically after these fires.
Source: Wikipedia