LOS ANGELES Firefighters faced worsening weather conditions Tuesday that pushed flames across firebreaks in parts of California and chased residents out of one small community.
The change came from a high pressure system setting up over the entire West, said Mike Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. "So in addition to the very warm temperatures we’re getting, we’ll also be getting a little bit of offshore wind, which keeps the moist marine air from coming inland." Gusting wind during the night blew flames across fire lines in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield, damaging "some outbuildings and maybe a residence," fire information officer Barbara Dougan said Tuesday morning. North of Sacramento, hundreds of residents were leaving the small town of Concow on Tuesday after authorities issued an immediate evacuation advisory because of shifting wind. The blaze north of Sacramento, part of a complex of fires that had burned over more than 45 square miles, was listed as 55 percent contained. However, the turn toward hot and drier weather comes as three other major forest blazesùthe one in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Bakersfield, one above the city of Goleta west of Santa Barbara and another at Big Surùwere all less than half contained. Those fires, considered the most dangerous, were among more than 300 still uncontained from some 1,780 that have charred more than 960 square miles of California in two weeks. Most were started by lightning but several are believed to have been human-caused. Some 100 structures statewide have been destroyed. One firefighter died of a heart attack. The 15-square-mile fire near Goleta was 35 percent contained Tuesday, mostly on its southern side near residential areas. It had destroyed four outbuildings, and two firefighters suffered minor injuries. More than 2,000 residents were allowed to return home Monday, said Roger Aceves, Goleta’s mayor pro tem. However, residents of about 275 homes remained under mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday, and 3,200 other homes were in areas where residents had been warned to be ready to leave. Crews fighting the Goleta fire were not immediately facing the windier, drier weather. "Overall, the fire has calmed down in our most populated areas," fire spokeswoman Pat Wheatley said Tuesday morning. "Right now, we have a good fog layer, which is to our advantage," but temperatures were expected to top 100 degrees in the area, she said. Crews also faced "sundowner" winds that have been routinely gusting in the late afternoons, she said. Some mandatory evacuation orders and warnings to be ready to leave remained in effect for scattered homes on the fire’s growing western flank on the Santa Ynez Mountains in the region about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Officials for the 125-square-mile blaze near Big Sur and the 48-square-mile fire in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield said those blazes won’t be controlled for at least two more weeks. The fire near Big Sur was 18 percent contained and raging through the remote Ventana Wilderness where difficult access made it hard to build containment lines, said Jim Turner, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. A mandatory evacuation remained in effect for all residents of Big Sur. (AP) ______ Photo courtesy of Associated Press
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
