Exploding inferno in Santa Barbara

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This article was published 15/11/2008 (6250 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Firefighters struggled Friday against an out-of-control wildfire that destroyed at least 100 homes in a wealthy, celebrity-studded enclave, flaring up so fast that it caught some terrified residents behind the automatic gates of their mansions.

Blistering winds gusting to 112 kilometres per hour, dry brush and oil-rich eucalyptus trees helped turn an ordinary brush fire into an exploding inferno. The flames quickly consumed rows of luxury homes and part of a Christian college campus where about 300 students spent the night in a gymnasium shelter, some praying and others sobbing.

“That whole mountain over there went up at once. Boom,” said Bob McNall, 70, who with his son and grandson saved their home by hosing it down. “The whole sky was full of embers, there was nothing that they could do. It was just too much.”

A state of emergency was declared in Santa Barbara County and about 5,400 homes were evacuated in Montecito, which has attracted celebrities such as Rob Lowe, Jeff Bridges and Oprah Winfrey, who owns a 17-hectare estate.

Residents waited anxiously for word of their homes after fleeing with just a few minutes’ notice. One 91-year-old man said he left with just his glasses and his wallet.

Lowe said he fled with his children as fire engulfed the mountain and flames shot 60 metres in the air. The family stopped to check on neighbours and found them trapped behind their automatic car gate, which was stuck because the power was out. Lowe said he helped get the big gates open.

“Embers were falling. Wind was 70 miles an hour, easily, and it was just like Armageddon,” Lowe told KABC-TV. “You couldn’t hear yourself think.” Lowe said his house hadn’t burned.

More than 1,000 firefighters were trying to gain an edge on the blaze before the region’s famous “sundowner” winds — which roar down the mountains to the sea as the sun sets — picked up again, said Santa Barbara fire Chief Ron Prince.

“Control of this fire is not even in sight,” Prince said.

Fuelled by vast stands of eucalyptus trees — which exploded when lit — and decades of chaparral and other growth, the fire quickly spread to about 10 square kilometres by early Friday.

Ten people were treated for smoke inhalation and three others had burns, said Michele Mickiewicz, a spokeswoman with the county emergency operations centre. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital reported receiving three patients with substantial burns.

A 98-year-old man who was evacuated to a hotel died, but it wasn’t clear whether his death was directly related to the fire, Santa Barbara Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said Friday.

The fire destroyed the Mount Calvary Benedictine monastery and burned more than 80 homes to the ground, said Brown, who flew over the burn area about 200 kilometres north of Los Angeles early Friday. Many of the homes were in the winding streets around Westmont College.

Among those worried about their homes was talk show host Winfrey. During a taping Friday morning, she said the fire was about three kilometres from her house. Homes of her friends and neighbours were destroyed.

“It’s not a good morning for us,” she said. “Some of my friends left their homes with only their dogs last night as I was calling, ‘Are you all right? Are you all right?’ They said, ‘We have the dogs and the kids aren’t here, so we’re OK.”‘

Evacuee Tom Bain relived the hellish scene after fleeing his home in five minutes with his three cats, some work files and a computer. On the way out, he saw at least six mansions on the ridge above his home explode in flames.

— The Associated Press