Firefighters are battling the blaze in Santa Barbara, while wildfires in New Mexico prompt a state of emergency as it also braces for high temperatures
Strong winds and scorching temperatures are expected to fan wildfires which are raging in California and New Mexico, prompting evacuations and highway closures.
Some 1,200 firefighters backed by helicopters and air tankers battled the so-called Sherpa blaze in Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, on Friday after it tripled in size overnight to more than 4,000 acres.
Fire chiefs said crews were working flat out to contain the fire as much as possible before a weekend heatwave brought triple-digit temperatures.
"We’re trying to take advantage of the cooler weather right now and do as much work as possible before the heat comes in," Raj Singh, a spokesperson for the South Central Sierra Interagency Incident Management Team, told KPCC.
Meanwhile in New Mexico, which is also bracing for a heatwave, governor Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency and ordered the national guard to prepare to help fight a blaze which has burned more than 16,000 acres and dozens of homes.
The fire started on Wednesday near the Sherpa ranch in the Los Padres National Forest – investigators have yet to determine the cause – and scorched through chaparral and tall grass which in some areas have not burned in 60 years.
Authorities briefly shut portion of the 101 Freeway, a major holiday route along California’s coast, and placed evacuation orders on at least 270 homes and business near Santa Barbara. It is about 5% contained and is expected to grow. The Red Cross opened two shelters.
Erratic "sundowner" winds that pick up around dusk have complicated containment efforts. So too has rugged terrain, Eric Peterson, fire chief of Santa Barbara County, told AP. "We have three sides of that box that we’re working on right now. The difficulty with that fire right now is the east side of it there are very little opportunities to tie it in."
Four years of drought have left much of California a tinderbox of parched scrub and dead trees. Officials fear the Sherpa blaze may herald a long, fraught fire season. Wildfires have already scorched 30,000 acres in California, about the same as this time last year, which proved to be a particularly damaging season.
In New Mexico strong heat and winds fanned the so-called Dog Head Fire which more than tripled in size to around 16,000 acres by Thursday night, forcing evacuations in the Manzano mountains southeast of Albuquerque.
"This is a serious fire," warned Martinez, the governor. "We want to make sure New Mexicans understand that."
The state’s official incident information system issued updated evacuation orders on Friday. "Crews made good progress over night establishing and reinforcing hand lines and dozer lines. Aircraft will continue to support ground crews with containment efforts and structure protection. Hot dry weather will continue through the weekend."
