California Firefighters Dig in to Protect Big Sur

Firefighters bulked up their defenses Friday against a wildfire that threatened parts of this storied tourist town and prepared for more lightning strikes that could ignite new fires across Northern California.More than 1,000 fires, mostly caused by lightning, burned across Northern California, including two gigantic blazes in the Los Padres National Forest.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush on Friday for a federal emergency declaration to free up more aid, saying the fires this season had burned 265,000 acres, or more than 400 square miles.

Firefighters rushed to protect about 575 threatened homes and historic structures in the Big Sur area. They allowed the fire to rage nearly unchecked through steep mountain forests, where flames torched massive redwoods and sent them toppling.

“This is not going away anytime soon,” said Mark Savage, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Low humidity did little to slow the fire overnight, and noticeably hotter weather was forecast for Friday afternoon.

Overnight, firefighters reinforced their fire lines near homes and businesses in the area, moving in heavy engines and more personnel, said Curtis Vincent, a spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest.

The blaze burned nearly 42 square miles in the national forest and was just 3 percent contained, but at least it was growing parallel to the coast - not toward inhabited areas, he said Friday.

The hundreds of smaller fires in remote Northern California burned primarily in Humboldt, Shasta and Trinity counties. No people appeared immediately in jeopardy, though there are homes scattered through the forest areas.

The fire count had gone up from 800 to nearly 1,100 because smoky air had hampered efforts to track all the blazes, said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

“That’s part of our problem - all of Northern California has been socked in for days, and aircraft haven’t been able to see the ground,” Kirchner said. Firefighters on the ground have provided most of the intelligence on new fires, he added.

Some 11,000 firefighters from 41 states are battling the blazes. Authorities put the firefighters on notice that they might be abruptly deployed to new fires expected to spring up with new lightning storms already under way.

“Our No. 1 priority is we want to stop any new, small fires,” Kirchner said.

The fire near Big Sur has destroyed 16 homes and two outbuildings since breaking out Saturday, and officials have issued voluntary evacuation notices to residents in 75 homes along a ridge threatened by the blaze.

West Coast 911 firefighter news source - Sac Bee