Winds drive Calif. wildfires

Associated Press

July 5, 2008

BIG SUR, Calif. - A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast yesterday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes.

While flames from the fire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to Big Sur's vacation retreats, emergency officials said hot winds had caused a newer blaze 200 miles south in Santa Barbara County to double in size overnight.

Residents of more than 1,700 homes in and around the city of Goleta were ordered to evacuate, joining an equal number of people who were told to leave Big Sur days earlier.

Driven by wind gusts as high as 40 mph, the Santa Barbara County fire was so fierce yesterday that firefighters at one point took shelter in about 70 homes they were trying to defend, said Capt. Eli Iskow of the county fire department.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said weather forecasts called for winds to kick up again today.

By yesterday morning, the Big Sur fire was only 5 percent contained and had consumed more than 100 square miles and 20 homes, while the Goleta fire was 10 percent contained and had destroyed about a half-dozen outbuildings and more than 8 square miles.