A fast-moving wildfire fueled by strong summer winds in Southern California destroyed about a half dozen outbuildings overnight and forced the evacuation of some 1,700 homes in Santa Barabra, about 140 kilometers north of Los Angeles, fire officials said Friday.
Firefighters were able to save hundreds of home from the intense flames in the pre-dawn hours, and although several firefighters suffered minor injuries, no residents were killed or injured in the fire, according to Eli Iskow of the Santa Barbara Country fire department.
The over 2,000-hectare fire in a national forest broke out Thursday afternoon for unknown cause. It became one of the latest running blazes in California, where thousands of firefighters have been struggling to battle against hundreds of scattered wildfires since two weeks ago.
Although the first fires were reportedly ignited by lightning storms in northern California, fire officials blamed a dry weather and strong winds for the failure to contain the blazes.
Meanwhile, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday ordered more California National Guard troops to help combat the wildfires, sending an additional 200 soldiers as ground firefighters to the fire lines.
Schwarzenegger earlier this week ordered 200 National Guard soldiers to provide ground support to nearly 20,000 firefighters from across the United States in their effort, after President George Bush declared the state of emergency in California due to the wildfires situation.
Source: Xinhua
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