California fire still rages on

ONLY 10% OF BLAZE CONTAINED Two coastal cities now under threat as scores flee massive flames.

Amassive California wildfire that has already destroyed nearly 800 structures scorched another 226 000 hectares on Sunday, making it the fifth largest such blaze in recorded state history, as it ran toward picturesque coastal cities.

But fire officials said as darkness fell that with the hot, dry Santa Ana winds not as fierce as expected, crews had been successful in building some fire lines between the flames and the towns of Montecito and Carpinteria.

“This is a menacing fire, certainly, but we have a lot of people working very diligently to bring it under control,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

Still, about 5 000 residents remained under evacuation orders in the two communities, near Santa Barbara and about 160km northwest of Los Angeles. About 15 000 homes were considered threatened.

The Thomas Fire, the worst of six major blazes in Southern California in the last week and already the fifth largest in the state since 1932, has blackened 570 000 hectares, more than the area of New York City. It has destroyed 790 houses, outbuildings and other structures and left 90 000 homes and businesses without power.

The combination of Santa Ana winds and rugged terrain that run through Santa Barbara and Ventura counties have hampered firefighting efforts, and officials said the Thomas Fire was only 10% contained on Sunday evening.

But wind gusts were less than those predicted by weather forecasters, giving crews a chance to slow the flames’ progress down slopes above the endangered communities.

The fires burning across Southern California have forced the evacuation of more than 200 000 people and destroyed about 1 000 structures.

Among them are residents of Montecito, one of the state’s wealthiest enclaves and home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey.

Emmy Leikin, an Emmy-winning songwriter who evacuated her Montecito home on Sunday, said she fled with only her cellphone, medication, eyeglasses and a few apples. Leikin, 74, said she doesn’t know the condition of her home but “none of that means anything when it is your safety”.

The fires that began last Monday night collectively amounted to one of the worst conflagrations across Southern California in the last decade. But they have been far less deadly than the blazes in Northern California’s wine country in October that killed over 40.

In the last week, only one death has been reported. –