Fire nears Calif. coastal city; 30,000 evacuated

[samanthajane13]

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Firefighters struggled Friday to get ahead of a raging wildfire that has moved dangerously close to heavily populated areas around this idyllic coastal city and forced the evacuation of an roughly 30,000 people.

Mobile home parks and neighborhoods of multimillion-dollar mansions were like ghost towns, bathed in the eerie orange glow of the growing blaze as billows of smoke wafted over the blackened mountains.

Santa Barbara County spokeswoman Jodi Dyck said the fire had grown since Thursday night, when it measured roughly 2,700 acres, or 4 square miles. But she did not have precise estimates of the size of the charred areas.

"It really got going during the night. Some areas have 45-year fuel. The wind is all over the place," fire Capt. Mike De Pont said Friday. "For this time of year, this activity is unusual."

Conditions for fighting the fire were not expected to improve Friday, with weather forecasts calling for low humidity, wind gusts that could reach 65 mph and temperatures that could top 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

After previously ordering the evacuation of an estimated 18,000 people from areas of Santa Barbara County, authorities overnight ordered another 12,000 to leave.

Two evacuation centers that could house over 1,000 people between them have been opened.

The blaze was approaching homes in the areas below the city's steep canyons. Fire spokesman Gary Pitney said flames jumped Foothill Road dividing the hilly terrain from the flatlands below and ignited spot fires in brush surrounding houses.

Pitney said the fire also pushed west across state Route 154, the key thoroughfare between Santa Barbara and wine country to the north.

Kelley Gouette, a deputy incident commander with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, likened the fire to "a blowtorch" and said he had requested that officials bring in a DC-10 to drop larger loads of water on the blaze.

Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said the blaze was particularly tough to fight as it spread into rugged terrain with thick brush that served as fuel and limited firefighting aircraft.

Firefighters are "running pretty thin on equipment," he said.

Officials said 11 firefighters were injured, including three who were injured when they sheltered in a house during a firestorm. They were reported in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center but two will need skin grafts and surgery. Other injuries ranged from smoke inhalation to sprained ankles.

About 2,300 firefighters from many departments were on the lines, aided by aircraft. The fire was just 10 percent contained.

The seasonal wildfires that menace this coastal city — home to screen stars, former presidents and Oprah Winfrey — roared to life earlier in the year than usual but their ferocity is familiar.

Firefighters have been wary of "sundowners" — fierce winds that late in the day can sweep down from the Santa Ynez Mountains towering close behind Santa Barbara.

The benignly named Jesusita Fire was a slumbering day-old brush fire on rugged slopes above the city when a sundowner hit at midafternoon Wednesday, hurling towering flames into homes and spitting embers into more distant neighborhoods.

The city's location on the state's central coast gives it some of the best weather in the world, with temperatures routinely topping out in the 70s, and views of the Pacific Ocean. Now with a population of about 90,000, it dates to the Spanish colonial era of California and a Roman Catholic mission established in the 1780s is a major tourist attraction.

But the geography that gives it beauty and a serene atmosphere also brings danger.

In November, a wind-driven fire burned 200 houses in Santa Barbara and Montecito, including the home of actor Christopher Lloyd. Winfrey's estate escaped, along with the home of actor Rob Lowe, among many celebrities who have area homes.

Gregg Patronyk, a lifelong Santa Barbara resident whose parents' home was destroyed by fire in 1990 and who had to evacuate in November, said he began soaking his roof when he saw other houses burning Wednesday.

"It started firestorming dramatically," he said. "The fire got within 200 to 300 feet of my house. There was a lot of pressure to leave. Police wanted me out and I got a frantic call from my sister, who was walking up the hill to get me. So I packed up the car and left, picking her up on the way."

(This version CORRECTS the name of the road the fire crossed to Route 154, instead of Route 134.)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/...s/us_wildfires

[samanthajane13]

More than 30K ordered to flee Santa Barbara fire
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Associated Press Writer – 40 mins ago

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Turning the horizon a lurid orange and raining embers on roofs as it advanced, a raging wildfire that has destroyed scores of homes in the hills menaced this celebrity enclave and other coastal towns Friday, and the number of people ordered to flee climbed to 30,000. Authorities warned an additional 23,000 to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Columns of smoke rose off the Santa Ynez Mountains as the 4-day-old blaze — fanned by "sundowner" winds that sweep down the slopes in the evening — blew up from 2,700 acres to 3,500 in less than a day, creating a firefighting front five miles long.

"It's crazy. The whole mountain looked like an inferno," said Maria Martinez, 50, who with her fiance hurriedly left her home in San Marcos Pass, on the edge of Santa Barbara. The couple went to an evacuation center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

An unknown number of homes were destroyed in the blowup that began Thursday night, in addition to the estimated 75 houses that burned the night before on the ridges and in the canyons above Santa Barbara.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported.

The number of people ordered to evacuate rose to 30,500 from 12,000 the night before as the blaze pushed west toward neighboring Goleta and east toward well-to-do Montecito.

"Literally last night, all hell broke loose," Santa Barbara Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio said Friday morning, recounting firefighters' efforts to put out roof fires and keep flames out of his section of the city.

The eight-member Wasjutin family arrived at the university campus in three cars and a trailer packed with four dogs, eight baby chickens, two cockatiels, an iguana, a rat named Cutie and an African spur tortoise. They fled their 40-acre San Marcos Pass property after watching the flames grow closer. They left three horses and three hens behind.

"We drove down through fire on both sides," said Silvia Wasjutin, 48, a speech pathologist.

In a scene of strange contrasts, students bicycled to classes and midterms as ash fell on campus, and boats bobbed in Santa Barbara's harbor as smoke rose from the mountains above town.

The Santa Barbara area has long been a favorite of celebrities. Oprah Winfrey has an estate in Montecito, where Charlie Chaplin's old seaside escape, the Montecito Inn, has stood since 1928. A ranch in the mountains that Ronald and Nancy Reagan bought became his Western retreat during his presidency.

More than 2,300 firefighters battled the blaze, using at least 246 engines, 14 air tankers and 15 helicopters. A DC-10 jumbo jet tanker capable of dumping huge loads of retardant began making runs on the fire in the afternoon.

The cause of the blaze, which broke out Tuesday, remained under investigation.

Evacuation shelters were set up, and hotels offered deals to evacuees.

"Right now, if you're not evacuated in the Santa Barbara area, you are sheltering evacuees," DiMizio said.

Oscar Funez, 39, his wife, Patricia, 42, and their son, Augustin, 4, were watching the fire on television Thursday night when they noticed other tenants leaving their Santa Barbara apartment building. They packed a suitcase and fled, too.

"It's our fourth fire in Santa Barbara. We know we have to have everything — paperwork, clothes, everything — ready to go," Oscar Funez said.

The family spent the night on cots at the university, and their little boy was given a stuffed elephant toy by a Red Cross worker. "We must be bad parents, because we didn't bring his stuffed animals," his father joked.

At historic Santa Barbara Mission, established by the Spanish in 1786, the Rev. Tom Messner was one of three friars permitted to remain during the evacuation. He helped make sandwiches for the firefighters.

Messner said there was plenty of smoke, but "I can't see the flames, and we have firetrucks in front of the place, so we feel very safe." The church, a major tourist attraction, was built in 1820, after an earthquake destroyed the previous structure. Officials said 11 firefighters had been injured, including three burned in a firestorm Wednesday. They were reported in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center.

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Wilson contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/...s/us_wildfires