Crews hope prep work will keep Thomas Fire in check

LOS ANGELES — After a welcome lull in powerful winds that drove Southern California’s massive wildfire, crews and homeowners were bracing Wednesday for the return of potentially dangerous gusts that could revive the flames.

Some residents are watching from afar at hotels and evacuation centers, while others are waiting in their homes and hoping for the best.

Katy and Bob Zappala have stayed in their home in Santa Barbara, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, despite a mandatory evacuation order that’s been in place since Saturday.

“Our cars are packed, we have all our clothes and jewelry, so we’re ready to leave at a moment’s notice should we have to,” Katy Zappala,

74, said Wednesday. “We’re ready to leap in and leave, and we’re just keeping a good eye on the sky.”

Communities remain threatened in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Firefighters used two days of calm conditions to build containment lines and set controlled fires to clear dry brush ahead of so-called sundowner winds expected to whip up Wednesday afternoon.

“We are still on guard,” fire information officer Rudy Evenson said. “It’s been a very unpredictable fire and we just don’t know what these winds are going to do.”

The blaze is 60 percent contained and now the second-largest in California history. Officials said the new winds could cause it to grow into the state’s biggest fire ever.

The Thomas Fire, which began Dec. 4, is responsible for two deaths, has destroyed at least 750 homes, and has burned about 425 square miles.