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Cooler Weather Helps Firefighters

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The Associated Press

Published: July 7, 2008

LOS ANGELES - LOS ANGELES - Firefighters on Sunday took advantage of cooler, damper weather to battle a vast blaze ravaging Santa Barbara County and tried to gain a foothold against the fire before the expected return of hotter, drier conditions.

Moist air currents from the ocean cooled temperatures to the high 70s Sunday, helping fire crews keep the 4-day-old blaze from spreading.

The fire, which has been burning since Tuesday, was less than a third contained Sunday afternoon.

"We've got a window here with the humid weather that's really helping us. But we know we're in this for the long haul," said Dixie Dies of the state Incident Management Team.

Temperatures are forecast to climb today and reach the 90s by Thursday. Moist air currents are expected to dissipate, causing drier conditions, Dies said.

The fire has consumed 13 square miles of Los Padres National Forest and put nearly 2,700 homes in jeopardy.

Officials ordered mandatory evacuations for hundreds of homes and issued warnings for others farther from the fire's path.
Firefighting crews have made good progress in controlling the fire's eastern and southern flanks, but flames moved aggressively to the west and northwest early Sunday, according to a statement from the Santa Barbara Ranger District.

Investigators suspect the fire was human-caused. The U.S. Forest Service has asked for public help in determining how it was set.

Sunday's cooler weather also helped firefighters advance on a 2-week-old blaze that has destroyed 22 homes in Big Sur, at the northern end of the Los Padres forest.

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