GOLETA, CALIF. — Fires raged in both Northern and Southern California on Wednesday, with the stubborn blaze in Big Sur taking a turn for the worse and a new one near Goleta causing widespread power outages and burning within about a mile of neighborhoods.
In Big Sur, the 11-day-old Basin Complex fire jumped a containment line Wednesday morning, forcing more evacuations and shutting down Highway 1 -- the coastal area's principal road -- for about 30 miles. In Goleta, the 1,200-acre Gap fire took out a major Southern California Edison power line, blacking out large areas of the south coast. Authorities there urged residents to curb usage.
The turn of events in Big Sur was a setback for local residents and a number of famed resorts and restaurants that had been in harm's way earlier but reopened in the last few days.
"Up until yesterday, I would have said it's a day-to-day situation," said Kirk Gafill, the general manager of his family's six-decade-old Nepenthe restaurant. "Now, I'd say it's minute to minute, or hour to hour."
Despite evacuation orders, about 12 of the 20 employees who live at the Nepenthe colony chose to stay along with Gafill.
Gafill, president of the local chamber of commerce, said most businesses on the rugged 70-mile cliff-side highway had closed. The small community of Big Sur was under evacuation orders. Workers applied a coating of fire-resistant gel to vulnerable homes and lodges -- including the Ventana Inn and Spa -- as the unpredictable fire raged.
"It seems to be giving the fire guys conniption fits," said Darby Marshall, a spokesman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services. "It's doing things they normally wouldn't expect."
Meanwhile, about 300 firefighters mounted a campaign against the Gap fire in Santa Barbara County, using four helicopters and six air tankers to drop loads of water and chemical retardants. Much of the battle was conducted from the air as firefighters streamed in without a break from fires that have been raging across the state.
"Could we use more resources? Absolutely!" Santa Barbara County Fire Chief John Scherrei said. "But California is stretched thin."
About 300 homes sit downhill and downwind from the flames, which were consuming brush that had gone untouched by fire for 54 years. The blaze was about two miles west of the path of the 1990 Painted Cave fire, which burned 600 structures in 90 minutes.
