San Francisco - Firefighters continue to battle blazes in California two weeks after lightening strikes ignited heavy forest and shrub fires on the US west coast. Several thousand people evacuated areas of Big Sur and Santa Barbara over the weekend. In Big Sur already 20 homes have burned and over a thousand structures still are in danger, according the state fire fighting agency Cal Fire.
More than 1,700 fires have burned in California since the first lighting storms on June 20, burning over 2,000 square kilometers. More than 20,000 personnel are fighting the flames, backed by 1,500 fire trucks and more than 100 aircraft dropping water.
Firefighters from forty US states are assisting with the fire and 200 national guard members are training to fight the ongoing battle under orders from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. An additional 200 national guard soldiers are to report for training on Monday.
The Basin Fire in Big Sur is still very active, a Cal Fire spokesperson said Saturday. The same is true for the so-called Gap Fire near Santa Barbara that started on July 1.
An official estimate of the current cost of fire fighting has not yet been made, but in the last fiscal year (June 2006 to June 2007) 392 million dollars was spent by the state to fight wildfires.
Over the weekend flames have been fanned by high winds. About 1,400 residents near the Gap Fire were instructed by police to pack suit-cases Saturday in preparation for a mandatory evacuation. On Friday about 1,800 homes were already empty. State-wide eight counties are under an emergency declaration.
In Big Sur the eviction orders have been ignored by some residents.
Firefighters do not have the manpower to secure homes and people are fending for themselves, Kirk Gafill, the Nepenthe Restaurant general manager told the San Francisco Chronicle. Gafill is the owner of the scenic cliffside restaurant in Big Sur who has elected to stay behind to defend the property with coworkers.
Schwarzenegger has said that firefighting resources are being exhausted by the fires and the federal government is involved in some areas. Typically fires burns in California at the end of the summer and in the autumn, but now the state has firefighting operations going on nearly year-round.
Last autumn a blazing inferno between San Diego and Los Angeles destroyed more than 2,000 homes and more than a dozen people died.
