Fires still roar along California's coast

Big Sur: A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening more than 4,500 homes.

While flames from the stubborn fire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to Big Sur's historic vacation retreats, firefighters farther south braced for the return of evening winds that a day earlier caused a wildfire in Santa Barbara County to double in size and race dangerously close to hundreds of homes.

Residents of more than 5,000 homes in and around the city of Goleta were ordered to evacuate, joining about 1,700 people who were told to leave Big Sur days earlier.

Driven by wind gusts as high as about 65 km/h, the Santa Barbara County fire was so fierce early Friday that firefighters at one point took shelter in one of about 70 homes they were trying to defend, said Eli Iskow, of the county fire department.

"The fire is expanding and presenting some very complex challenges because of the terrain and the fact that it hasn't burned in over 50 years," Iskow said. "And it's close to all the valuables like homes and people."

Stretched resources

Iskow said firefighting resources were stretched thin and officials have brought in crews from as far away as the Midwest.

Wind was less of a problem in Big Sur, which remained eerily empty under a thick blanket of fog and smoke at the start of the long holiday weekend. No more properties were lost since Thursday.