In this paper, we show that the total downlink interference in heterogeneous wireless DS-CDMA networks follows an asymptotically self-similar (as-s) process. The as-s model is valid for the interference under certain conditions on channel variations and traffic characteristics that cover a range of practical situations. We derive these conditions and generalize earlier results, obtained for data-centric cellular networks, to heterogeneous cellular networks. Simulation results for actual cases confirm analytical results, and show that non-uniform spatial distribution of users and their soft-hand-off status do not affect the nature of this self-similar process. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of the analysis developed in this paper in designing appropriate mechanisms for controlling radio resources in such networks.