The Associated Press
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Helicopters dropping water during the night and calming wind early Wednesday helped crews hold off a wildfire that forced the evacuation of 1,200 homes.
Some 2,000 homes were threatened by the 400-acre fire north of the city that portended an early start to California’s annual wildfire siege.
“Things are pretty stable from where they were last night,” Santa Barbara County fire spokeswoman Pat Wheatley said.
However, the National Weather Service said the wind could pick up later in the day, with gusts to 40 mph by afternoon.
The 420-acre fire remained uncontained, Wheatley said. No buildings had been lost but flames were within a half-mile of some neighborhoods.
“The winds have been our friend so far, although we are watching cautiously,” Wheatley said. “They’ve died down some. The smoke is going straight up.”
Helicopters, often grounded after dark, dropped water on the fire during much of the night. They were expected to be joined during the day by water-dropping airplanes
Mandatory evacuations were in effect for residential areas spanning a region about 2 1/2 miles wide, officials said. At least five schools were scheduled to be closed Wednesday.
The fire began Tuesday afternoon in the foothills above San Roque Canyon and grew quickly grew. The cause was not known, officials said.
Less than six months ago, a wind-driven, 2,000-acre blaze destroyed more than 200 homes in Santa Barbara and neighboring Montecito.
Elsewhere, crews In rural southeastern Arizona were battling a wildfire that had destroyed three houses near Sierra Vista and injured one person.
The fire had charred about 1,500 acres of rolling grassland, dry brush and scattered trees near Fort Huachuca. Containment was estimated at 25 percent early Wednesday.