Tempe, Ariz. ? Chased from their homes and practice fields by deadly wildfires, the San Diego Chargers headed home Friday night and will play the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday as scheduled.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard since this happened,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “I never thought I’d feel so good just going home.”

The team worked out for a final time at the Arizona Cardinals’ facility Friday afternoon, then boarded buses to the airport for the flight to San Diego.

“It was like a relief,” tight end Antonio Gates said, “to be able to go home and play in front of our home crowd, considering all the trials and tribulations that are going on in San Diego.”

The game’s date and time had been in doubt because Qualcomm was used as a major evacuation center during the wildfires that swept San Diego County. The stadium closed as an evacuation center at noon Friday.

“Early Friday morning the Chargers informed me that the NFL has decided to play Sunday’s game as scheduled at Qualcomm Stadium,” San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders said in a press release. “The city will be able to provide sufficient public-safety personnel to manage a professional football game without impeding ongoing wildfire recovery efforts.”

Several players and coach Norv Turner said they expected an emotional scene Sunday.

“Just thinking about it I get goosebumps,” Tomlinson said. “I think it’s going to be very emotional, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a lot of tears in that stadium.”

The Chargers, who had a bye last week, canceled practice Monday, then flew to Phoenix for workouts at the Cardinals’ facility Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“We wanted to come over here and get three good days of practice and not have where we were playing as a distraction,” Turner said. “Obviously, we wanted to be at home, wanted to be in our stadium in front of our fans. It’s worked out for us.”