A wildfire in Santa Barbara County, Calif., has destroyed about 70 multimillion-dollar homes and ripped over about 320 hectares of land. The fire was moving toward the city of Santa Barbara on Friday morning after tearing through the upscale coastal community of Montecito the night before, destroying about 70 mansions, officials said.
The brush fire started at about 6 p.m. on Thursday, said Terri Nisich, spokeswoman for the San Barbara County executive office.
The fire has since been fanned by 110 km/h winds, which were continuing on Friday morning, making it difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze, Nisich said.
The flames were within 10 kilometres of Santa Barbara by Friday morning and about 20 homes within Santa Barbara city limits have already been destroyed, according to officials.
Southern California is experiencing unseasonably hot weather, drought conditions and forecasts of strong Santa Ana winds blowing in from the desert over the weekend, putting the region on high forest fire alert.
About 70 houses were destroyed overnight in Montecito, a popular area for celebrities to keep property about 150 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles.
Officials said that the flames ripped through entire blocks of mansions in the community of 10,000 that has been dubbed "America's Riviera."
"It looked like lava coming down a volcano," said area resident Leslie Hollis, who was preparing to leave her home on Thursday night.
College residence destroyed
Homeowners in the area include actors John Cleese, Christopher Lloyd and Rob Lowe as well as talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and Google Inc. chief executive Eric Schmidt. Officials are not releasing the names of owners of the destroyed properties.
A residence building and several classrooms at the private Westmont College were also destroyed by the fire.
Montecito last suffered a major fire in 1977, when more than 200 homes burned.
Thick plumes of smoke were in the sky in the area on Friday morning.
About 2,500 residents were forced to leave the area because of the flames and officials were reporting on Friday that about 20,000 people had lost power because of the fire.
Minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and burns, were being reported.
Fire crews, including 125 engines, from neighbouring counties are coming to the area to help battle the fire, Nisich said.
Three water-dropping helicopters were being dispatched to the area on Thursday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment