Local News

SANTA BARBARA (AP) ― An explosive wildfire destroyed about 70 homes in the ritzy community of Montecito, injured four people and forced thousands to flee wind-whipped flames in the longtime hideaway for celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Rob Lowe.

The fire started at about 6 p.m. and quickly spread to about 800 acres, destroying dozens of homes in less than five hours in the foothills of Montecito, just southeast of Santa Barbara. Several fire departments were battling the flames as thick plumes of smoke hovered overhead.

"It looked like lava coming down a volcano," Leslie Hollis Lopez told The Associated Press as she gathered belongings from her house in Montecito. "It's very tenuous. We're hoping the winds are favorable."

Montecito fire spokeswoman Geri Ventura said about a quarter of the community of 10,000 people was evacuated and more could be moved out if the fire spreads.

Students at Westmont College remained holed up in the school's gym as flames burned a dormitory building and several other classroom facilities. The college said on its Web site it is considering moving the students to a Red Cross shelter if they can get safely through the fire.

The injuries included two people who suffered smoke inhalation and two others taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with substantial burns, said the hospital's director of public affairs Janet O'Neil.

Thousands of feet above the flames, footage shot from television helicopters showed a scene that looked like a massive campfire with dozens of glowing embers. When cameras zoomed in, however, what appeared to be flaring coals were actually houses gutted by flame. Many of the homes were sprawling estates.

"You can just hear the explosions ... of vehicles, homes," Michaelo Rosso said as he prepared to leave his home. "It sounds like the Fourth of July out here."

About 125 engines and three water-dropping helicopters were en route or at the scene, said Xenia Tihomirova, a spokeswoman for Santa Barbara County.

Firefighters faced wind gusts as high as 70 mph Thursday night, and gusts were expected to remain strong through early Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Oxnard. The fierce winds known locally as "sundowners" blow from land to sea in the evening, reversing the normal onshore flow of cool, moist sea breezes. They are caused by the area's unique topography.

The fire temporarily knocked out power to more than 20,000 homes in Santa Barbara, said Southern California Edison spokesman Paul Klein. He said only scattered pockets of homes were without power by late Thursday night.

An emergency shelter was set up at a local high school and students at Westmont College were told to gather in the school's gym. The fire had damaged several minor buildings at the college, according to the school's Web site. A message left with the college was not immediately returned.

Montecito's multimillion homes have ocean views and have attracted celebrities such as Michael Douglas, Lowe and Winfrey, who owns a 42-acre estate. The landmark Montecito Inn was built in the 1920s by Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle, and the nearby San Ysidro Ranch was the honeymoon site of John F. Kennedy in 1953.

Publicists for Lowe and Winfrey told the AP the celebrities' homes had not been destroyed and neither was not staying in the area Thursday night.

Montecito suffered a major fire in 1977, when more than 200 homes burned. A fire in 1964 burned about 67,000 acres and damaged 150 houses and buildings.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)