Bonfire 'sparked US blaze'

2008-11-19 11:49

Los Angeles - A bonfire built by a group of young adults caused a weekend wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, including multimillion dollar mansions, and injured more than two dozen people, authorities said on Tuesday.

An anonymous tip led to the discovery that 10 college students, aged between 18 and 22, had gathered for a late night hangout at an abandoned property where the fire originated, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. He declined to say which college the students attended.

"It appears this fire was the result of carelessness, not criminal intent," Brown said.

No criminal charges have been filed, but the county district attorney will review the case, Brown said.

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 smouldering bonfire in the middle of the night and the embers sparked the wildfire 13 to 14 hours later, Brown said. 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 blackened more than 168 square kilometres.

In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds that swept six counties like a blowtorch died down on Tuesday, allowing crews to mop up the smouldering hotspots.

The 4 546-hectare fire in the San Fernando Valley was 85% contained; About 80km to the south, the last remaining evacuation order was lifted in Orange County, where a nearly 11 736-hectare complex of fires was 90% contained and some of the 3 760 firefighters were being sent home.

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 said it was 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.

Gov Arnold Schwarzenneger waived state fees for fire victims who need to replace destroyed birth certificates and other documents or obtain state property inspections. He also waived a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants who lost their jobs because of the fire.

The state has spent $305m on emergency firefighting since the start of the fiscal year on July 1, $236m more than lawmakers had planned.

- AP