RESIDENTS piled into cars and fled downtown Santa Barbara, as surging winds drove one of the biggest fires in California’s history toward the city and the nearby wealthy enclave of Montecito.
The mandatory evacuations around Montecito and neighbouring Summerland came as winds that had eased on Friday roared back the next day at around 30mph, with gusts to about 60mph.
The 404-square-mile Thomas Fire was moving rapidly westward and crested Montecito Peak, just north of Montecito. Known for its star power, the enclave boasts the mansions of Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and many others.
Firefighters drove to the historic San Ysidro Ranch in yellow fire trucks as heavy smoke rose from the coastal hills.
A portion of Santa Barbara was under mandatory evacuation at the weekend, and at the city’s zoo, workers began putting some animals into crates and kennels, to ready them for possible evacuation.
There was better news down the coast, as emergency officials announced that the same fire that was burning about 25 miles south-east of Montecito was 40 per cent contained.
Since the fire began on December 4, about 95,000 people have been placed under mandatory evacuation. The evacuation zone near Santa Barbara on Saturday was 17 miles long and up to five miles wide and the new expansion encompassed about 3300 people.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here