Rob Lowe flees 'Armageddon-like' wildfires
Rob Lowe told today how he fled with his family as a wildfire he said was “like Armageddon” destroyed more than 100 homes in a wealthy, celebrity-studded California enclave.
Firefighters were holding their own today, but authorities warned that evening wind gusts could send the blaze on another destructive sprint.
Much of the damage to homes and a small Christian college happened on Thursday night local time, but several more homes burned yesterday in Montecito, a quaint and secluded area that has attracted celebrities such Lowe, Jeff Bridges and Michael Douglas and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Lowe said he fled with his children as fire engulfed the mountain and flames shot 200 feet in the air.
The family stopped to check on neighbours and found them trapped behind their automatic car gate, which was stuck because the power was out. Lowe said he helped get the big gates open.
“Embers were falling. Wind was 70 miles an hour, easily, and it was just like Armageddon,” Lowe told KABC-TV. “You couldn’t hear yourself think.” Lowe said his house had not burned.
More than 1,000 firefighters worked to contain the 1,800-acre blaze ahead of winds that were expected to pick up today.
“It’s not a time to relax,” said Santa Barbara County Deputy Fire Chief Tom Franklin. “Everybody’s got to be diligent through tonight. It’s the last evening of these wind events.”
The streets were quiet today as a smoky haze lingered over the area, the flames not visible from the roadblocks posted throughout the community.
Mr Franklin said up to 200 homes may have burned in the area and asked for patience from residents as crews try to log the devastation in remote hilly areas accessible only by winding roads.
At least 13 people were injured. A 98-year-old man with multiple medical problems died after being evacuated to a hotel, but it was unclear if his death was directly related to the blaze, Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said.
Blistering winds gusting to 70mph, dry brush and oil-rich eucalyptus trees helped turn an ordinary brush fire into an exploding inferno that quickly consumed rows of luxury homes and part of Westmont College, where students spent the night in a gymnasium shelter.
The fire began at about 6pm on Thursday before it chewed through multi-million-dollar homes whose shattered windows glowed like lanterns as they blazed through the night.
A state of emergency was declared in Santa Barbara County and about 5,440 homes were evacuated in Montecito, a town of 14,000 where Los Angeles-weary celebrities rub shoulders with friendly locals who have lived there for years.
At least part of actor Christopher Lloyd’s property was damaged in the fire, the Los Angeles Times reported on its real estate blog. It said a Times reporter witnessed much of the Back To The Future actor’s eight-acre grounds in ruins, and that he was filming on location in Vancouver, Canada, but a caretaker had fled the property.
Fuelled by vast stands of oil-rich eucalyptus trees – which exploded when lit - and decades of chaparral and other growth, the fire quickly spread to more than two square miles yesterday.
Ten people were treated for smoke inhalation and three others had burns, said Michele Mickiewicz, a spokeswoman with the county emergency operations centre. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital reported receiving three patients with substantial burns.
At Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts school, 1,000 students were evacuated. About 300 spent the night on cots in the gym. Some stood in groups praying; others sobbed openly and comforted each other.
Evacuee Tom Bain, who fled his home in five minutes with his three cats, some work files and a computer, saw at least six mansions on the ridge above his home explode in flames.
“I saw $15m (€11.8m) in houses burn, without a doubt,” said the 54-year-old electrician. “They were just blowing up. It was really, intensely hot.”
Montecito, a quiet community known for its balmy climate and charming Spanish colonial homes, has long attracted celebrities.
The landmark Montecito Inn was built in the 1920s by Charlie Chaplin, and the nearby San Ysidro Ranch was the honeymoon site of John . Kennedy in 1953.
Montecito suffered a major fire in 1977, when more than 200 homes burned. A fire in 1964 burned about 67,000 acres and damaged 150 houses and buildings.
