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Fire near Goleta doubles in size overnight, to 2,400 acres
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More from Breaking NewsA wildfire threatening homes near the San Marcos Pass in the Los Padres National Forest doubled in size overnight, authorities said.
Moving through heavy Chapparral that last burned in 1955, the fire grew to 2,400 acres by about 1 a.m., said John Ahlman, a spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest.
At least 350 firefighters are battling the blaze, including some from Ventura county.
Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are dropping water and fire retardant on the blaze this morning.
"We're still trying to get our arms around it," Ahlman said.
As the fire grew late last night, authorities evacuated residents from homes on Winchester Canyon Road and north of Cathedral Oaks Road between Glen Annie Avenue and Fairview Avenue, Ahlman said.
Residents of Glen Annie Canyon and La Patera Canyon were evacuated shortly after the fire was reported in the West Camino Cielo area Tuesday evening.
An evacuation center has been set up at San Marcos High School at 4750 Hollister Avenue in Santa Barbara. Large animals are being housed at Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.
At least 200 homes are threatened, but no damage or injuries had been reported as of this morning.
The fire is burning parellel to homes behind Camino Cielo near the west end of Goleta, Ahlman said. It was about 20 miles north of the Ventura-Santa Barbara County line Wednesday afternoon.
Smoke caused powerlines to arc about 7 p.m. last night, knocking out power to about 150,000 Southern California Edison customers in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. About half of those were still without power an hour later.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation this morning.
Posted by Old_Fart on July 3, 2008 at 5:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good luck firefighters, drove by there today and it doesn't look good.
Posted by hogueiette on July 3, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow two days of the fire in Goleta and the star finally has it as breaking news. Good luck to the fire fighters and thank to all of them for their hard work.
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