. : Fire update..

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Fire update..

(11-14) 14:25 PST Montecito -- Fire crews are attacking a massive wildfire in the tiny Southern California town of Montecito with everything from air tankers to hand tools in a desperate attempt to gain control on flames that so far have destroyed more than 100 houses and forced 5,400 to flee.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County, and fire departments from all over the state were sending additional personnel and equipment to help the 700 fire fighters already on the scene.

The advent of a major blaze this late in the year would be unusual in Northern California, where the fire season was declared over on Nov. 10 - but in the sunny south it is depressingly predictable.

"It's not like the Bay Area, where you at least get more rain," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Doug Lannon said in Montecito. "But here, where it's still very hot and we get strong winds, we've been expecting this kind of thing."

Coming on the heels of a busy summer of blazes around the state that demolished homes from Shasta to Santa Cruz and down to Los Angeles, this latest fire is taxing an already overstretched fire fighting force in the state. More than 2,700 fires, many sparked by lighting, ravaged California and at times blanketed the air of many regions with clouds of smoke for days at a time.

Today's conflagration - dubbed the "Tea Fire" - broke out Thursday at 5:50 p.m. in the Tea House, a historic building in Montecito. Driven by the area's famed twilight-hour "sun downer winds" with gusts up to 90 mph, the fire swiftly tore through thick stands of eucalyptus and oak trees and into leafy Westmont College and surrounding mansions.

With average home values of $2.9 million, the Montecito area's address book is full of the rich and famous, claiming among its 10,000 residents actors Rob Lowe, Michael Douglas and talk show maven Oprah Winfrey. Many were forced from their homes as showpiece estates were gobbled by flames.

On her show today, broadcast from Chicago, Winfrey spoke worriedly about the chaos the fire is wreaking on the tiny area where she keeps a mansion.

"Some of my friends left their homes with only their dogs last night," she said on the show. During the broadcast, she also interviewed actor Rob Lowe, who had to flee his house Thursday night.

"We just left with the kids," Lowe said. "We just got everybody out. This thing came on so fast, you just can't believe it."

Most of the 1,200 students at Westmont College, a liberal arts Christian school set among idyllic woods and hills, were still on campus when the blaze broke out. Within 15 minutes, they were running for their lives as the blaze ate through three dormitories, 14 faculty homes and several other buildings.

About 300 spent the night in the school gym. Groups gathered throughout the evening to pray, sob and comfort each other.

So far, 2,500 acres around Montecito have been torched, and fire fighters have not declared containment of any side of the fire. The fire is now creeping north toward the city of Santa Barbara, and crews are working as fast as they can to carve out a fire break between homes and the advancing flames.

The howling winds of last night have now died to about 5 mph, but they are forecast to swell to as much as 30 mph this afternoon, giving extra urgency to the battle, said Cal Fire's Lannon.

Late Friday evening the winds have not come up and Stella’s friend is so relieved that his home is intact but he is still not allowed to return even to get medications.

The day was spent as a lazy one really, after a great breakfast of most of the fruit we bought at the market yesterday I caught up on my laundry detail, cleaned up inside Ramona and did a few chores around the yard. After working so hard I felt it only fitting that I stop and sit and read some chapters of my book until I had to put it down and have a siesta!!!!!!