Fire destroys 100+ homes, injures 4 in SoCal town
(by thomas watkins, associated compress writer) firefighters were racing early friday to push lodged with someone a wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed at least 100 homes and a college dormitory, injured four people and forced thousands to split the longtime prestige hideaway of montecito.
the fire penurious out by a hair’s breadth before 6 p.m. thursday and spread to about 2,500 acres - approximately 4 square miles - by early friday, destroying dozens of luxury homes and parts of a college campus in the foothills of montecito, only just southeast of santa barbara. about 5,400 homes in the tony community of 14,000 residents were evacuated and more people could be forced to flee if the fire spreads, said nicole koon, a spokeswoman with the santa barbara county executive office.
“we believe 100 benefit homes have been destroyed,” koon said. “it’s our best guess at the moment because it’s ignorance. we’re not counting as much as trying to protect the homes.”
at westmont college, a christian flexible arts college nestled amid wooded rolling hills, some 1,000 students were caught off-guard by the briskly moving flames.
“it came pretty fast,” said tyler rollema, a 19-year-hoary sophomore who was eating dinner in the cafeteria when students were told to head to the gym. “we came out-moded and it was good blazing.”
thousands of feet above the flames, footage shot from television helicopters showed what initially looked find agreeable a massive campfire with dozens of glowing embers. when cameras zoomed in, however, what appeared to be flaring coals turned out to be houses - many of them sprawling estates - gutted by flame. palm trees were lit like burning matches.
“it looked corresponding to lava coming down a volcano,” leslie hollis lopez said as she gathered things from her house.
about 500 firefighters were trying to stop the flames from marching farther west to dense neighborhoods in santa barbara. santa barbara city fire spokesman john ahlman told kabc-tv he spotted about 20 homes seething thursday night in the city.
about 200 people spent the night at an evacuation center at a high school in nearby goleta, but rest was out of the question for ed naha. he was worried thither his home in the hills unaffected by santa barbara.
“i don’t think we are going to have the house when we go back,” naha said.
the 58-year-outdated stringer had been untroubled b in working on his computer when smoke blanketed his house. he gathered his insurance documents, his wife and two dogs and communistic as flames approached his neighborhood.
“we are used to seeing smoke because we do have fires up here, but i’ve not in the least seen that reddish, hellish brightness that close,” he said. “i was waiting for dante and virgil to lead up.”
be delayed officials planned an aggressive attack from the air at daybreak friday with the help of nine water-dropping helicopters and 10 air tankers, said terri nisich, another spokeswoman with the santa barbara county executive office.
the injured included two firefighters who suffered smoke inhalation and two residents bewitched to santa barbara cottage convalescent home with substantial burns, hospital spokeswoman janet o’neil said.
the fire was fanned by evening winds known locally as “sundowners,” which gusted up to 70 mph from deplane to sea late thursday. around sunset, winds shift from the normal onshore flow of cool, moist sea breezes and push downhill from the santa ynez mountains.
the winds weakened overnight, with gusts reaching from 17 to 25 mph, said jamie meier, a meteorologist with the national bear up against service in oxnard. “we’re expecting conditions to improve for firefighters on the lines, but it will still be warm and parch including tomorrow,” she said.
the stir in the interim knocked out power to more than 20,000 homes in santa barbara, southern california edison spokesman paul klein said
at westmont college, the air was dense with smoke and the scent of raging pine. flames chewed through a eucalyptus grove on the 135-acre campus and destroyed several buildings homes the physics and psychology departments, a dormitory and at least one faculty home, college spokesman scott craig said.
“i saw flames about 100 feet high in the air shooting up with the wind just howling,” he told ap radio. “now when the wind howls and you’ve got palm trees and eucalyptus trees that are literally exploding with their hot grease, you’ve got these ample, red hot embers that are flying through the fulsomely and are catching anything on bombardment.”
hundreds of students fled to gym, where they spent the night-time sleeping on the floor. some stood in groups praying, others sobbed flagrantly and comforted each other.
beth lazor, 18, said she was in her dorm when the alarm went off. she said she only had time …
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