Weather helps crews battling California's biggest fire

LOS ANGELES — Cooler weather on Sunday gave a boost to crews battling the enormous wildfire that was threatening nearly 2,700 homes in Santa Barbara County.

The four-day-old fire in the Los Padres National Forest, which had blackened about 13 square miles, spread slightly during the night but firefighting crews were able to keep u with it, county spokeswoman Vickie Guthrie said.

As of Sunday morning, the fire in the area of the town of Goleta was 28 percent contained, she said.

And with lower wind and higher humidity forecast for Sunday, crews were optimistic they could get more acreage under control. Temperatures were forecast to reach the upper 70s later Sunday.

"They expect to make progress today," Guthrie said.

Wildfires have charred more than 800 square miles of forest, brush and grass and have destroyed at least 69 homes throughout California, mainly in the northern part of the state, in the past two weeks. One firefighter died of a heart attack.

According to state forestry officials, at one time there were more than 1,700 active fires, but about 1,400 had been contained, leaving more than 330 still out of control Sunday morning.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who on Saturday visited a command post in the coastal region of Santa Barbara County, has ordered 400 National Guard troops trained to help fight the blazes. He also urged lawmakers to adopt his budget plan for a $70 million emergency surcharge on home and business insurance policies to buy more firefighting equipment.

Nearly 2,700 homes in Santa Barbara County remained under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday and residents of 1,400 others were warned to be ready to flee.

The fire, fueled by 15-foot-high, half-century-old chaparral, still had the potential to roll through a hilly area of ranches, housing tracts and orchards between the town of Goleta and Santa Barbara, keeping firefighters on their toes.

Temperatures dipped to around 60 degrees during the night, but were forecast to reach the high 70s later Sunday.

Nearly 1,200 firefighters were assisted by a DC-10 air tanker and other aircraft dumping water and fire retardant along ridges and in steep canyons.

Investigators think the fire, which began Tuesday, was human-caused. The U.S. Forest Service on Saturday asked for public help in determining hot it was started.

Meanwhile, cooler weather helped crews attacking the two-week-old blaze that has destroyed 22 homes in Big Sur, at the northern end of the Los Padres forest, but the fire continued to grow slowly on all flanks Saturday night.

The fire, which had blackened 111 square miles, was only 5 percent contained with full containment not expected until July 30, but morning fog that moved in from the sea helped prevent it from advancing on Big Sur's famed restaurants and hotels.

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