Bonfire is being blamed for sparking the Santa Barbara wildfire
Published Wednesday November 19th, 2008
LOS ANGELES - A bonfire built by a group of young adults caused a weekend wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, including multi-million dollar mansions, and injured more than two dozen people.
An anonymous tip led to the discovery that 10 college students had gathered for a late-night hangout at an abandoned property where the fire originated.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown declined to say which college the students attended.
He says it appears this fire was the result of carelessness, not criminal intent.
No criminal charges have been filed, but the county district attorney will review the case.
The fire consumed nearly 800 hectares in Santa Barbara County and critically injured a couple who were burned as they fled their home, which was destroyed by the flames.
The college group left the smoldering bonfire in the middle of the night and the embers sparked the wildfire 13 to 14 hours later.
The group had been hanging out at a property known locally as the "tea garden" next to an abandoned tea house in the hills of Montecito.
"They thought the fire was extinguished, but we don't have a lot of detail to disclose about what they did to do so," Brown said.
The fire was the first of three blazes to erupt in Southern California in the last week which have collectively damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes and blacked more than 170 square kilometres.
In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds that swept six counties like a blowtorch died down Tuesday, allowing crews to mop up the smoldering hotspots.
The fire in the San Fernando Valley was 70 per cent contained; a third wildfire in Orange County was 75 per cent contained.
For a second day, officials allowed residents to return to the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar for a few minutes to salvage what they could from acres of ashes.
The fire burned about 480 homes and left 125 standing.
The county is sending crisis counselling teams to comfort the victims.
Help began to come from the state and federal government.
President George W. Bush made a disaster declaration for California, freeing federal aid to areas ravaged by the wildfires that blacked more than 65 square miles.
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