RANCHO BERNARDO - Evacuees from neighborhoods that escaped the Witch Creek fire's destructive run through this upscale community were allowed to return home Wednesday, but other homeowners anxious to re-enter burned neighborhoods were left angry and frustrated when police continued to turn them away.

Things grew tense or erupted into shouting matches with police more than once as a steady line of cars filled with residents of The Trails residential development off Pomerado Road tried to drive into their neighborhood, only to be forced to make U-turns when they reached a roadblock at Pomerado Road and Paseo del Verano Norte.

Some of those turned away settled for parking nearby and attempting to walk to their homes.

When that also failed, people began gathering on the sidewalk, where they swapped stories of mad, early morning dashes to escape flames that came with no warning other than police shouts through bullhorns before dawn Monday.

Information about homes burned or still standing was also exchanged. Many Trails evacuees said that their escape window of five minutes or less forced them to leave cherished things behind, including pets in many cases.

"My animals are in my house," 16-year-old Alexa Sherman said with a wail, as the group's overall stress level went up. "We were going so fast, we had to leave them."

Complaints about confusing announcements regarding which evacuated areas were being reopened and what some described as seemingly unnecessary delays were also voiced.

What evacuees from The Trails didn't know was that firefighters were still moving street by street through the development, putting out hot spots and dousing smoldering ruins.

The neighborhood was among those hardest hit by the blaze when it tore through the north end of Rancho Bernardo.

Firefighters doing mopping up on Wednesday said that the development was still too dangerous for the public to enter. They also said authorities were concerned that potential wind changes might kick up the smoldering embers and reignite flames.

As they worked, the firefighters took time to sift through the rubble of destroyed homes in search of salvageable items, which were placed where the properties' owners were sure to find them.

San Diego city fire Engineer Rich Marcello and his crew found a grandfather clock standing mysteriously intact in the center of a Lancashire Way house that otherwise had been reduced to rubble.

Carefully carrying their find to the front of the house, the firefighters used their hands to dust off the clock. The men then propped two framed family photos retrieved from the same rubble against the clock's base.

"If there's any valuables, we pull them out 'cause the families, they're not going to be able to walk right in there, Marcello said, referring to the rubble. "So if we can find some of their valuables and set them out here, at least they'll have something they can take with them."

A team of city inspectors was also working its way through the neighborhood.

Armed with a list of destroyed structures provided by the San Diego Fire Department, the inspectors photographed the ruins and tagged them with bright-red notices identifying the properties as uninhabitable and in need of demolition permits.

The move was a legal step that cleared the way for the homeowners to apply for federal financial aid and start rebuilding, the inspectors said.

Trails residents said their predicament was all the more frustrating because they saw other evacuees head back into their neighborhoods early Wednesday afternoon. The crowd began gathering midmorning by a roadblock that had kept the public out of evacuated areas north of Rancho Bernardo Road and east of Pomerado Road since the fire.

Many of those who showed up said they had heard on the TV or radio that evacuees were about to be allowed to go back home.

As the waiting wore on and the sun grew hot, a nearby store provided the evacuees with muffins and fruit. John Lucero, a district manager for Farmers Insurance in Los Angeles, and three of his employees also showed up with a pickup truck loaded with bottles of cold water, snacks, dog food and masks for evacuees.

Scripps Ranch resident Karen Reimus, who lost her home in the 2003 Cedar fire, also stopped by briefly and distributed copies of her book, "Disaster Recovery Handbook & Household Inventory Guide."

While they waited, some evacuees were fretting about whether their homes were still standing. Trails resident John Sullivan provided answers on the status of some properties in that neighborhood when he passed around photos he took while visiting the development Tuesday with a news crew for a story.

"As they finished, we went down the street and …. I just started taking pictures of addresses and houses," said Sullivan, whose home lost its garage but is otherwise intact.

A police officer's announcement just after noon that the Rancho Bernardo-Pomerado roads blockade was coming down sent the evacuees scrambling for their cars. Most turned into residential developments along Pomerado Road but south of Paseo del Verano Norte.

Those neighborhoods were undamaged by the fire. Evacuees headed for The Trails were nonetheless caught off-guard when they were denied access to their own neighborhood.

Residents waiting to return to the heavily damaged Westwood area of Rancho Bernardo west of Interstate 15 also spent part of the day waiting, with only moderate success. People gathered outside a roadblock at Rancho Bernardo Road and West Bernardo Drive were told around 2:30 p.m. that police would escort them in for 15-minute visits during which they could retrieve medicines and other necessities from their homes.

- Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.