Raulken co.UK - Winds ignite early start to Calif. fire season

...

60? "60px": "auto" ); height:expression(do*****ent.body.clientHeight > 60? "60px": "auto" );' >Updated | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print | Enlarge By Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times, via AP Patty Bryant rushes Tuesday to evacuate her home in Mission Canyon in Santa Barbara County, Calif. By William M. Welch, USA TODAY LOS ANGELES — An early-season wildfire whipped by high winds Tuesday forced the evacuation of 1,200 homes around the luxury seaside community of Santa Barbara. Fire officials said the flames had consumed about 160 acres by evening, spread by winds blowing up to 30 mph after starting shortly before 2 p.m. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. "It's extremely windy here," said Pat Wheatley, spokeswoman for Santa Barbara County. "It's been very hot and dry." County fire and emergency officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of homes potentially in the path of the fire in the hills above the seaside city, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles along the Pacific coast. An additional 1,000 or more homes were in an area of voluntary evacuations. A Red Cross shelter was set up for evacuated residents at the First Presbyterian Church, said Gail Johnson, a volunteer staffing the county's emergency center. She said the evacuation area was north of State Route 192, also known as Foothill Road. Those homes extend into the Santa Ynez Mountains and Los...
Click here to read the content (Source USA Today)