California fire crews worn down

LOS ANGELES — A wildfire threatening thousands of homes in Southern California spread slowly through canyonlands Saturday, straining resources as crews struggled to contain hundreds of other blazes around the state.

"The firefighters are stretched thin, they are exhausted," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who visited a command post in Santa Barbara County.

A slew of wildfires, most ignited by lightning two weeks ago, has burned more than 800 square miles throughout the state. The blazes have destroyed at least 67 homes and other buildings and contributed to the death of a firefighter who had a heart attack while digging fire lines. About 1,400 fires have been contained, but more than 330 were burning out of control Saturday.

Federal and state authorities, who have more than 20,000 firefighters and other personnel on the lines, said Saturday that nearly 11,000 homes statewide are threatened.

Schwarzenegger said the state's top priority was in the coastal region of Santa Barbara County, where nearly 2,700 homes were threatened by a 4-day-old fire in the Los Padres National Forest that has consumed about 13 square miles.

Cooler, moist air Saturday kept the fire sluggish, said Pat Wheatley, county spokeswoman. The fire was 24 percent contained, she said. "It's just spreading in each direction, but they are holding the line beautifully," she said.

Crews hoped to make more progress before the return of late-afternoon "sundowner" winds that Friday sent flames racing up to homes.

Wheatley said about 4,000 homes were under a warning Saturday afternoon — a situation not as urgent as a mandatory evacuation — in four canyons at the northern end of the blaze.

The fire, which was burning in 15-foot-high, 50-year-old chaparral, had the potential to roll through a hilly area of ranches, housing tracts and orchards between the town of Goleta and Santa Barbara.

Temperatures were expected to reach the high 80s, and the smoke from the fire made for bad air quality.

Nearly 1,200 firefighters struggled to surround the blaze while a DC-10 air tanker and other aircraft dumped water and fire retardant along ridges and in steep canyons.

Investigators think the fire, which began Tuesday, was human-caused. The U.S. Forest Service on Saturday asked for public help in determining who set it and whether it was sparked accidentally or on purpose.

Meanwhile, lower temperatures helped crews attacking a 2-week-old blaze that has destroyed 20 homes in Big Sur, at the northern end of the Los Padres forest.

The fire, which had blackened 107 square miles, was only 5 percent contained, but morning fog that moved in from the sea helped prevent it from advancing on Big Sur's famed restaurants and hotels. "We're gaining ground, but we're nowhere near being done," said Gregg DeNitto, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

A homeowner near Big Sur was arrested Friday after officials said he refused orders to stop setting his own backfires.

Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, urged lawmakers to adopt his budget plan for a $70 million emergency surcharge on home and business insurance policies to buy more firefighting equipment.

California has a year-round fire season and needs the money from the fee, which should cost the average homeowner about $1 a month, Schwarzenegger said.

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