SAN BERNARDINO -- For the 1,000 people packed into the Red Cross shelter at San Bernardino Airport, the days without a home are mounting, but they are still without answers.

Despite the clown and face-painting meant to take children's minds' off the inferno, anxiety and confusion still dominated the moods of many adults.

Evacuees said that media and authorities could not give them consistent or definite answers to their most desperate questions -- when could they return to their homes, and were those homes even standing?

Dustine Agrella, 34, said that every time she watched the television news or talked to representatives of the fire department, the answers changed. "We've been told, 'Yes, it burned,' then, 'No, it didn't.' No one knows for sure," Agrella said. "It makes no sense. I think with the technology today, it should be better. They should be able to enter your address and say, 'Yes, it burned,' or 'no.' "

A group of residents who call themselves the Rim Report have formed their own news program to keep their neighbors updated. With the permission of the Fire Department, they carry a camera and a microphone through the streets of local subdivisions. They show their video in the shelter. With the appearance of each standing house, a cheer erupts in the crowd watching the screen.

"We're letting people know, 'You have a home to go to,' " said Donald Stephens, one of the volunteers for Rim Report. "It takes away some of the fear and anxiety."

The San Bernardino County Fire Department also kept a booth set up at the airport with maps and charts marking the paths of the fires that blazed through the county's hills. But updates were slow in coming.

Agrella said her patience was wearing thin, as she looked at a day-old map of the fire that threatened her home. While the map showed that her neighborhood was not touched, a white board nearby announced that her neighborhood had "suffered significant loss."

For her and many others, friends and neighbors have become the most reliable source of information about the status of their homes. The few lucky ones who have made it back into the hills returned with a detailed report of what is still standing and what has turned to ash.

But the most important news remains elusive. "I haven't heard one single word about when we can go back," said Jeremiah Gordon, 24. He and his wife, Sabrina, and 15-month-old son, Dakota, evacuated their home last weekend with a couple of sets of clothes and some family pictures and heirlooms. But as they've watched the news intently for updates on the rest of their belongings, only more questions have arisen from the conflicting news reports. While one station said their home was gone, another said the fire was far away.

For Gordon and many others, a week of anticipation has taught them to just wait and keep hope. A conflicting rumors abound, the evacuees await the announcement that they can return home.

-- Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service