After doing liveshots for Newschannel 8 at Sunrise, we headed to the most devastated neighborhood in San Diego county. In Rancho Bernardo, the flames ripped through with little warning and left little behind. As the sun rose, the neighborhood remained closed to public access. The streets were secured by armed national guard members and only media and homeowners were allowed inside. At first homeowners were given only ten minutes inside their homes to grab what they could.

With the neighborhood still closed and few media up as early as we were, it was eerily quiet. The morning breeze swept small funnels of ash into the air. You could hear embers still popping as you walked through the remains of what was once a multi-million dollar neighborhood.

Street by street, the damage was everywhere.

At the site of one home, you could make out what was left of their kitchen.

Cars remained in place in many driveways. According to neighbors here, the fire raced through in the early morning. Most were still asleep. Families packed into the first vehicles available, leaving other vehicles to burn.

As sunrise turned into morning, media from around the country began to fill the hilltop streets of this Rancho Bernardo neighborhood. Satellite trucks filled the curbs, cameras and lights lined the driveways.

Looking down from the top of a nearby hillside, you can see how random the flames moved through this area. One home is incinerated while another is completely untouched.

This is Rancho Bernardo, California. This is now the reality that this community faces. Much rebuilding lays ahead.

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