Wildfires Burn Along California's Central Coast

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

While flames from the stubborn fire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to Big Sur's historic vacation retreats, state 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 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 early Friday 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.

Wind was less of a problem in Big Sur, which was eerily empty under a thick blanket of fog and smoke. No more properties had been lost since Thursday, but the density of the parched terrain allowed the 13-day-old wildfire to keep advancing on the storied tourist town.

By Friday 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 nearly 15 percent contained and had destroyed about a half-dozen outbuildings and more than 10 square miles.

The Los Padres blazes were two of 335 active wildfires burning in California, down from a peak of 1,500 fires a few days ago, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Goleta resident Susan Ramirez said she and her husband and two children evacuated their duplex about two miles from the fire late Thursday as conditions deteriorated. They were staying with her parents, also in Goleta, and watching the smoke.

"It was completely black, and there was too much ash," Ramirez said. "Our eyes were burning, and we were trying to get out of there as fast as we could."

Another fire generating concern is in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield, where a wind-driven blaze had burned 25 square miles, had destroyed one house and threatened 1,000 more in nearby communities.