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more than 100 homes burned in california blaze
Published Nov 14, 2008Views: 48
More than 100 homes burned in California blaze
- Story Highlights
- NEW: State of emergency declared in Santa Barbara County
- Three people suffer burns, 10 smoke inhalation
- Winds of up to 70 mph could fuel flames through Saturday
- Fire threatens roughly 1,500 homes in Montecito, officials say
SANTA BARBARA, California (CNN) -- A wind-driven brush fire roaring through the canyons of Santa Barbara County has burned more than 100 homes, injured 13 people and charred more than 2,500 acres, a county spokeswoman said.
Michelle Mickiewicz said residents of more than 4,500 homes were ordered to evacuate as flames from the Tea Fire engulfed multimillion-dollar mansions and modest ranch-style homes north of Los Angeles. The blaze began Thursday evening.
Oprah Winfrey and Rob Lowe are some of the celebrities with homes in the upscale, oceanside enclave of Montecito. It was not known if any celebrities' homes have been damaged.
Large homes continued to burn Friday morning, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County.
The fire threatened roughly 1,500 homes, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Winds calmed at daybreak Friday, slowing the spread of the fire, but were forecast to pick up to 50 mph to 70 mph through Saturday.
One firefighter suffered burns and was transferred to Sherman Oaks Burn Center. Two civilians who sustained burns were transported to the burn center in Irvine.
Ten were treated for smoke inhalation, officials said.
More than 500 firefighters are fighting the blaze.
A firefighter said overnight that the environment was ripe for a fire.
"A lot of the brush and trees and stuff are right up against the structures, and this one happened so fast that nobody had any advance warning at all, so there was really not much we could do or the homeowners could do in this case," he said.
Video from CNN affiliate KCAL-TV of Los Angeles showed numerous structures gutted or burning. Watch as fire rips through California town »
"You can just hear the explosions ... of vehicles, homes," Michaelo Rosso told KCAL as he prepared to leave his home. "It sounds like the Fourth of July out here."
"It looked like lava coming down a volcano," resident Leslie Hollis Lopez told the Associated Press.
"We drove through tunnels of thick gray smoke," CNN's Paul Vercammen said. "Smoldering embers are floating everywhere. ... There's orange glows of similar burn areas all around us."
The flames roared onto the campus of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, forcing students and staff to take cover in the school gym. iReport.com: Are wildfires blazing near you? Let us know
Several buildings, including dormitories, the school's physics building and more than a dozen homes in Westmont's faculty housing area, have been lost or "significantly damaged" by the fire, the school said in a statement on its Web site.
College officials said they hope to evacuate to a Red Cross shelter as conditions permit.
Authorities ordered evacuations between Mountain Drive and Highway 192 and between Cold Springs and Sycamore Canyon Road in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara County.
CNN's Chris Lawrence, Tom Larson and Patty Lane contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 CNN.
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GOLO member since December 15, 2007
November 14, 2008 9:34 p.m.
I figured that after 30 years or so that I can think of, they have yet to figure it out.
GOLO member since April 23, 2008
November 14, 2008 8:21 p.m.
GOLO member since September 19, 2008
November 14, 2008 8:16 p.m.
I doubt there were too many surplus in Montecito!
GOLO member since July 12, 2007
November 14, 2008 5:24 p.m.
GOLO member since July 13, 2007
November 14, 2008 4:58 p.m.
GOLO member since October 18, 2007
November 14, 2008 4:56 p.m.
GOLO member since July 12, 2007
November 14, 2008 4:53 p.m.
GOLO member since August 21, 2009
November 14, 2008 4:03 p.m.
1. Provide a buffer that is vegetation free around your home so that blasing trees do not fall into your house.
2. Install a wash system on the crown of your roofline that will do two things. Send cascades of water down all roof sections and spray a fine mist into the air, surrounding the house. Add to that ground mist systems that protect the vertical walls and no embers can get to your structure. Compared to the cost of some of those houses, the system is not that expensive to install and would probably pay for itself in reduced insurance premiums.
Mist systems are currently being used to extinguish interior fires in inexcessable buildings and airplanes. Essentially, the huge surface area of the mist itself draws heat as it turns to vapor, dissapating the radiant energy before it can heat the nearby structure to flash point.
November 14, 2008 3:05 p.m.
Again I state, there is nothing wrong with offering a kind word. Celebrity homes are not the only homes in that area. There are real hard working people who just lost probably everything they had, and I dont care if they had insurance or are rich and can afford to rebuild. It is still a loss with more homes likely to burn.
GOLO member since July 3, 2007
November 14, 2008 2:48 p.m.
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