On Tuesday, thousands of San Diego County evacuees, including Scripps Ranch residents David Woodruff and neighboring couple Dale Switzer and Lou Marotta, returned to their homes safely, if not completely relieved

“I like to think that I’m safe, but I’m not going to take a deep breath until I know for sure the fires are under control,” Woodruff said. “They’re so close to where I am. I mean Ramona is just North of here, so for now I’m just taking one moment at a time.”

At press time, estimates varied on how much damage had been done by the fires that have ravaged the county since Sunday. According to signonsandiego.com, more than 300,000 acres across San Diego County had burned, and more than 500,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes.

“I feel OK, but you know you’re always on edge when you know that there are potential fires that are east of you, and we know how dry the brush is over the county,” Switzer said. “And, you know, you just realize, … you live in an area where you virtually live in a desert.”

“I actually thought I was going to get by OK, but towards mid day, it got a lot more smoky and a lot more ash, and I don’t know, it was just a matter of time… . Now it’s kind of like less smoke and more ash,” said Woodruff.

Woodruff, Switzer and Marotta were evacuated from their homes on Monday afternoon.

“We started mid afternoon packing things in the car, and then Monday morning we filled up the rest of the car with everything that we felt we wanted to take out of the house,” Switzer said. “And we then watched the reports, and we then got the reverse 9-1-1 evacuation notice and we left.”

While all three are now home, they’re well aware the fires were not contained Wednesday, and conditions could change.

“The concern that we have is that there is apparently some other fires in Ramona, and the last time that the fires came through here in 2003 that’s where the fires started,” Switzer said.

Neither neighbor has unpacked his car, in case he has to leave again.

“My bags are still packed, so if I get a call again I’ll be ready at a moments notice,” Woodruff said.

“We’ve actually left all our vehicles packed. We’ve left everything that we originally packed. We’re not going to unpack anything yet,” Switzer echoed.

Both neighbors remember the 2003 fire. While Woodruff’s house was left with no damage, the backside of Switzer and Marotta’s home was damaged.

In 2003, “We had a quite bit of damage, at our house. It didn’t burn down but we had virtually all of our backyard, our master bedroom wing had caught on fire, our spa and deck caught on fire, which then caught the house on fire,” Switzer said.

The couple say they had more time to evacuate this time than last. They say in 2003 they had 5 minutes to evacuate, as a 100-foot wall of flames raced down their street. “I grabbed the first thing I could grab and our dog and got in the car, got down the road, and at that time it was already in flames,” Switzer said.

This time, he said they heard about the fires close to a day before they had to evacuate.

Hillcrest hasn’t been affected by the fires directly, but those who live and play in the area have.

“My office is in Scripps Ranch is one of the areas that was evacuated,” said Patrick Arevelo, a North Park resident.

Arvelo was one of many in the GLBT community who found refuge at Baja Betty’s on University Avenue, where nearly every table was filled each afternoon the fires raged. “We were told not to report to work for the rest of the week, so we figured we would make the best of it at Betty’s,” Arvelo said.

Hillcrest residents could also be seen wearing masks that covered their mouths and noses. A few more donned breathing apparatuses while driving their vehicles down the road.

“It’s been incredible the way that we have been swamped by such a large number of people who are off work because of the fires,” said Chris Barone, floor manager at Baja Betty’s. Barone had to call in extra staff to help serve the influx of customers that is expected for the rest of the week. “I’m not complaining because it is great for business, but it is quite shocking the number of people we’ve served the last few days. At the same time it is comforting to see that people are turning to us as a place to gather with friends to talk about the devastation,” he noted.