SAN FRANCISCO -- Fire crews conducted more controlled burns Wednesday, trying to block the spread of a wildfire that already has blackened 190 square miles of the Los Padres National Forest in the hills of the central California coast.
The fire was started by lightning more than three weeks ago and had destroyed 27 homes along the storied Big Sur coast before spreading inland.
Controlled "back burns" set by firefighters Wednesday were proceeding well, "as long as the humidity cooperates," said Bertha Gonzalez, spokeswoman with the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center.
"It all depends on weather," she said.
Ironically, efforts to use back burns Tuesday were ended because high humidity led to lots of smoke but ineffective fires, Gonzalez said.
In anticipation of the controlled burns, a mandatory evacuation Tuesday morning emptied about 20 cabins and summer homes that dot heavily wooded ridges in the area. About 200 homes already were evacuated in the rural Cachagua community because of the fire danger.
The fire was 61 percent contained Tuesday, said Kathy Hilliker, spokeswoman for Monterey County Emergency Services.
Since a huge lightning storm struck on June 21, California has had about 2,010 separate wildfires statewide that have ravaged nearly 1,400 square miles, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The worst part of the state's wildfire season historically is in September and October, noted Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
South of the Los Padres, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in Inyo County, the twelfth county given that designation because of the current wildfire outbreak.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services approved on Tuesday the release of $41.5 million public assistance money to the California fire agency. The funds will cover the cost of state firefighting overtime, equipment and materials as well expenses borne by local fire agencies.
A complex of fires in Butte County, about 80 miles north of the state capital, Sacramento, was 75 percent contained after blackening 84 square miles and destroying dozens of homes.
At least one person was found dead after the Butte County flames swept through the rural community of Concow, but the county coroner said Tuesday that he likely won't be able to determine the cause of death because the body was so badly burned.
Elsewhere, a wildfire in south-central Washington state had charred about 11 square miles, or 7,160 acres, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and on the Yakama Indian Reservation. The fire about 7 miles northeast of Trout Lake was 5 percent contained Tuesday evening, fire information officer Kim Smolt said.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Lawyer says 9/11 defendants will plead not guilty to gain platform Astronaut's baby daughter born as he circles Earth Calif. fisherman arrested in sea lion shooting NRC: Three Mile Island radiation not significant Police: Ohio suspect may have eaten evidence Cruise ship passenger rescued from ocean