Calif. wildfire imperils Santa Barbara; homes lost
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A fireman sprays water on a house burning during the Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara, California May 6, 2009. At least half a dozen homes were destroyed and 2,000 evacuated on the outskirts of Santa Barbara on Wednesday as a fierce, wind-whipped wildfire raged in rugged foothills above the central California seaside city. [Agencies]
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Authorities reported 10 firefighters injured, including three who sheltered in a house during a firestorm. They were in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center but two faced surgery. Other injuries ranged from smoke inhalation to ankle sprains.
There were no specific numbers available on property losses. Fire officials would not clarify the governor's estimate, saying assessments were still under way.
The city's location on the state's central coast gives it some of the best weather in the world, with temperatures routinely topping out in the 70s, and views of the Pacific Ocean. Now with a population of about 90,000, it dates to the Spanish colonial era of California and a Roman Catholic mission established in the 1780s is a major tourist draw.
But the geography that gives it beauty and a serene atmosphere also brings danger.
"I'm from the East Coast and at this point I'd rather put up with this than the winter," said evacuee Jim Hatch, 40, an illustrator who returned home to pick up clothes Thursday and motored up Jesusita Road on a baby blue Piaggio scooter to see the fire.
State Assemblyman Pedro Nava fled Wednesday with his wife, two dogs and a cat. They tossed pictures, documents and a few days of clothes into a car and went to the home of a friend.
"I've learned how important preparation is in an emergency," he said. "The public has to be prepared to move, and in Santa Barbara they are prepared. When the police squad car came through with loudspeakers telling us to leave, there was no arguing. And they will all be back."
Morse, the executive director of the environmental group Global Preservation Projects, said he's not surprised by so many fires, blaming it on global warming.
"Temperatures are rising and humidity levels are dropping. It means more fires," he said.
Global warming can't be blamed for specific fires, but it creates conditions that foster larger and more frequent wildfires, scientists say.
"A warming climate encourages wildfires through a longer summer period that dries fuels, promoting easier ignition and faster spread," the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change wrote in 2007.
Hatch, the scooter-riding illustrator, said his wife grew up in Santa Barbara.
"Her family thinks this is normal," he said. "But after living here for 20 years I think the fires are getting worse."
Elsewhere, a southern New Mexico wildfire destroyed three homes and damaged a fourth near the small mountain community of Timberon. It also burned five outbuildings, such as sheds and garages, and 10 vehicles, fire information officer Darlene Hart said. Twenty homes were evacuated.
In southeastern Arizona, winds cooperated Thursday in holding down a wildfire that had destroyed three homes and critically injured a man, officials said. That blaze was 30 percent contained.
