Quick evacuation saves lives in wildfire United States
Firefighters toiled in stifling heat yesterday on the lines of destructive wildfires across the US West, making progress against some blazes while struggling to tame others that have forced evacuations of hundreds of homes.
In heat-stricken Southern California, powerful winds that sent an overnight inferno hopscotching through the Santa Barbara County community of Goleta vanished in the morning, allowing firefighters to extinguish smouldering ruins of an estimated 20 structures, including homes.
Authorities announced that mandatory evacuation orders were being greatly reduced and many of the 2500 people who fled on Saturday would be able to return home by late afternoon.
County Fire Chief Eric Peterson thanked residents for heeding the call to evacuate, allowing firefighters to focus on fire suppression rather than rescues.
‘‘There very likely would have been fatalities last night had those evacuations not occurred,’’ Peterson said.
The fire’s spread was stopped at about 40.5ha in a neighbourhood where some houses were in ruins while homes next door were intact.