From the ArcaMax Publishing, News & Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/newsheadlines/s-373011-611775
GOLETA, Calif. (UPI) -- Firefighters struggled Thursday in Southern
California to keep a wildfire as small as possible as it devoured
brush they said had not burned for 50 years.
The Gap Fire threatens residential neighborhoods in the Santa Barbara
area. Most of the more than 1,000 fires burning in the state are in
the north, with one in the Big Sur area.
The Gap Fire jumped a fire line Wednesday night, ballooned to more
than 2,400 acres, and forced the evacuation of about 45 homes in the
seaside community of Goleta, the Los Angeles Times said. Officials
warned area residents to be prepared to evacuate.
Tom Franklin, deputy fire chief in Santa Barbara County, said the Gap
Fire is California's top firefighting priority at the moment.
"When a small fire breaks out, the state dumps everything it can on it
to keep it small," he said.
In Big Sur, up the coast from Santa Barbara, the Basin Complex fires
were about 3 percent contained but grew to more than 64,000 acres
since Wednesday and threatened nearly 1,800 residences.
Greater levels of containment were reported around scores of fires in
Northern California. Weather was moderating, but still hot with low
humidity.