State of emergency declared in Calif.
Six fires have carved paths of massive property loss in southern region of state
LA CONCHITA, Calif. — Hoping to take advantage of a lull in the winds, an army of firefighters in Southern California embarked on a major offensive Friday against six fires that have carved paths of destruction between Santa Barbara and San Diego.
More than 400 structures, including at least 73 homes and three commercial buildings, have been destroyed in the fire, which, combined with all the other conflagrations have sent clouds of smoke wafting throughout California, including the Bay Area.
The devastation across Southern California has been enormous, as nearly 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate, homes and neighborhoods have burned, and at least three people have been injured. One woman was found dead in her car near Ojai in Ventura County.
Mandatory evacuations were in place in parts of Santa Barbara County, prompting President Donald Trump to declare a federal state of emergency for the West Coast for the second time since almost two dozen fires raged through wine country and Northern California in October, killing 44 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Fierce Santa Ana winds have been whipping flames through wildlands, densely populated neighborhoods and rural communities all week and sparked two more fires in San Diego County
over the past two days, but fire crews were waiting for their chance to pounce and took it Friday.
“We’re taking advantage of the lull in the wind, and we are going with a direct assault,’’ said Fire Chief Jack Piccinini of the Rincon Valley and Windsor Fire Protection District, and an incident commander on the Thomas Fire, which has burned 132,000 acres in Ventura County and was heading toward Santa Barbara Friday afternoon.
The Thomas Fire, which started Sunday night, is the largest of the fires that have wreaked havoc through Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego counties. It was 10 percent contained Friday as firefighters set about building fire breaks to pinch off the flames.
Dozens of airplanes and helicopters dropped retardant, and bulldozers dug trenches where they plan to make a stand far in advance of the leading edge of the ferocious blaze, which was about 15 miles southeast of the beach-side community of Santa Barbara around sunset Friday. The fire also has encroached into Los Padres National Forest.
“Our priority is the portion of the fire heading toward Santa Barbara,’’ said Mark Brown, the fire operations chief who is also deputy chief of the Marin County Fire Department. “That portion of the fire significantly slowed.’’
The wind-blown fires have put exhausted crews on edge because every time they get a handle on one fire, another one blows up.
That’s what happened with the Lilac Fire in San Diego County, which forced hundreds of firefighters to scramble southward when it started around 11:15 a.m. Thursday. It grew to 4,100 acres overnight and leveled dozens of structures -- including a mobile home retirement community and at least 20 other homes. Three people were burned escaping from flames, said Capt. Nick Schuler of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire.
The Lilac, which had no containment Friday afternoon, swept through the sprawling San Luis Rey Downs training facility for thoroughbreds in the town of Bonsall, killing as many as 25 horses that were trapped in their stalls. Many of the more than 450 horses at the facility were cut loose so they could escape on their own from the stables, said Mac McBride of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Horse trainer Scott Hansen said some of his 30 horses at the facility were killed. The California Horse Racing Board said most of the horses died in eight barns that burned. Many others in adjacent pastures were unaccounted for, he said.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the county.
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that continued effective response is beyond the capabilities of state and local governments,’’ Mr. Brown wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump.
The cost to the federal government, combined with the $7.4 billion it will take to rebuild after the deadly fires in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Yuba counties, is expected to be enormous, and fire officials say their problems are far from over.
“The Thomas Fire was the first fire and the weather conditions haven’t changed significantly since that first day -- and new fires keep happening,’’ said Todd Derum, incident commander for the Thomas Fire, who is also the Cal Fire operations chief for Sonoma County. “That puts a strain on firefighters, physically and mentally. This portion of Southern California has not received significant rainfall, so the wildland fuels are just as dry as they were in late summer or fall.’’
The Santa Ana winds, which fanned the fires earlier this week, were expected to kick up again through the weekend, with gusts of up to 30 mph, said Drew Peterson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
On Friday, after the worst of the winds had passed, soupy smog clouded the coast from Ventura to Santa Barbara. It was so thick that the ocean couldn’t be seen from the iconic Pacific Coast Highway. Even the most committed of surfers stayed home. The state beaches were empty and the storefronts were closed.
Though evacuation orders in many areas had been lifted and roads reopened, some residents decided not to return home because of the poor air quality.
Electricity was out in some areas of the fire zones and officials said it could take days to weeks to restore it.