San Diego arena braces for wildfire evacuees

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- An onslaught of additional evacuees seeking shelter from devastating wildfires were expected to pour into Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday, officials said.

Unlike the experience after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when evacuees at the NFL arena in New Orleans suffered without food or working toilets, volunteers at Qualcomm were serving breakfast to hungry evacuees lined up across the stadium. The arena boasts 96 restrooms, according to its Web site.

Evacuees spent Monday night sleeping in lines of tents, cots and sleeping bags that dotted the facility. By sunrise Tuesday, hungry evacuees waited to be served breakfast in lines that stretched across the already crowded stadium.

At least 6,500 people had arrived at the stadium by Tuesday morning, according to registration records. The Associated Press reported that the number of evacuees estimated at the arena is around 10,000.

Hundreds of volunteers were working at the stadium to register incoming evacuees and to serve food and beverages to the hungry.

Among the stadium's inhabitants seeking shelter are the Villanueva family, who said they abandoned their Spring Valley home when they saw flames approaching. Watch the Villanuevas talk about evacuating »

"We got here pretty late and we slept in our vehicle," said Johnny Villanueva, who accompanied his wife and three daughters to the arena. They said they weren't sure whether their home survived the fires. "I think it's safe, we're going to go and find out and see what happened," he said. See dramatic photos of the devastation »

The Villanuevas' 11-year-old daughter said evacuating to the arena was "a whole different thing to do," adding that she felt safer there.

Stadium employees were volunteering to help, and a group of volunteers with the Marine Corps brought a pickup truck full of diapers to distribute to children. Volunteer coordinators are asking for teachers in the area to come to the facility to help with child care.

In addition to playing host to the NFL's San Diego Chargers, Qualcomm Stadium also holds football games for college football's annual Holiday Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl, and for the San Diego State University Aztecs, according to the site.

At least 16 wildfires have scorched about 425 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego since the weekend. San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said Tuesday about 1,000 homes have been destroyed. Watch a fire official describe "utter devastation" »

More than 300,000 people fled their homes in San Diego County, where five of 23 emergency shelters reached capacity Monday evening. Others took shelter with friends or relatives.

The U.S. Navy ordered sailors out of barracks and onto ships to make room for evacuees. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez contributed to this report.

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