Winds fuel 2 raging fires in California

BIG SUR, Calif. -- Two 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 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 5,000 homes in and around the city of Goleta were ordered to evacuate, joining about 1,700 people who were told to leave Big Sur days earlier. In an additional 300 homes, residents were told to pack their valuables in case an evacuation order comes.

Driven by "sundowner" winds gusting out of the mountains, the blaze roared "to the edge of some of the neighborhoods," said William Boyer, spokesman for Santa Barbara County.

Firefighters who beat back the flames were aided, he said, "by homeowners who had taken personal responsibility and created a lot of defensible space around their homes."

Driven by wind gusts as high as 40 mph, the Santa Barbara County fire was so fierce early Friday that some of the 800 firefighters battling the blaze at one point took shelter in about 70 homes they were trying to defend, said Capt. Eli Iskow, of the county fire department.

"Hundreds of firefighters were in place around hundreds of structures," Iskow said. "I think we saved every one of those structures in that area."

Wind was less of a problem in Big Sur, which remained eerily empty under a thick blanket of fog and smoke at the start of the long holiday weekend. No more properties were lost since Thursday, but the density of the parched terrain allowed the 13-day-old wildfire to keep advancing on the tourist town, where flames churned toward the scenic Pacific Coast Highway and sent forest creatures running toward the Pacific Ocean.

On Friday evening hundreds of firefighters lit controlled fires along Highway 1 in a final effort to stop the Big Sur fire from crossing the highway where many more homes and businesses are located.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said weather forecasts calling for winds to kick up had officials worried the outlook for both blazes was not going to improve.

By Friday evening, the Big Sur fire was only 5 percent contained and had consumed more than 107 square miles and 20 homes, while the Goleta fire was 14 percent contained and had destroyed about a half-dozen outbuildings and more than 10 square miles.

The Los Padres blazes were two of 335 wildfires burning in California, down from a peak of 1,500 fires a few days ago, but they were requiring the greatest share of gear and personnel because of their locations near populated areas, Berlant said.

"Anytime we have structures threatened and lives at risk, it's a top priority," he said.

Face masks were to be distributed free to residents who are sensitive to the smoke that hangs over Goleta. The masks were provided by Direct Relief International, a Santa Barbara humanitarian group. At the Camino Real Marketplace Center, Goleta's main shopping area, city officials put up notices on two big sheets of plywood lashed together into a lean-to. Kristen Deshler, a spokeswoman for Goleta, marked the fire's growing borders on a map.

Susan Ramirez said she, her husband and two children evacuated their Goleta duplex 2 miles from the fire late Thursday as conditions deteriorated. "It was completely black, and there was too much ash," she said.

Since a series of dry lightning strikes ignited more than 1,500 wildfires on June 21, more than 520,000 acres, or 814 square miles, of range and forestland have gone up in flames.

On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered an additional 200 soldiers from the California National Guard to reinforce firefighters, doubling the number of troops deployed earlier in the week.

On Thursday, volunteer firefighter Robert Roland died of an apparent heart attack at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, a day after collapsing while battling a fire northwest of Philo in Mendocino County. Along with the Goleta and Big Sur fires, another fire generating concern is in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield, where a wind-driven blaze had burned 25 square miles, destroyed one home and threatened 1,000 more.

A mobile home fire in Malibu quickly spread to brush Friday, burning about 25 acres and leading to the evacuation of Malibu Creek State Park. It was burning not far from a Hindu temple and the historic King Gillette ranch, built in the 1920s for razor magnate King C. Gillette. Firefighters had the blaze nearly contained Friday evening.

Material from the Los Angeles Times is included in this report.