California Wildfire Chars Montecito Luxury Belt

Firefighters in southern California were bracing today for the resurgence of a wildfire that has injured 13 people and destroyed 100 homes.

No deaths were reported in the fire itself, but a 98-year-old man died shortly after being evacuated, authorities said. Winds gusting to 70 miles per hour fuelled the fire, which began on Thursday and raged through dry brush and eucalyptus trees to consume rows of luxury homes in Montecito, 90 miles north-west of Los Angeles.

Multimillion-dollar houses were reduced to rubble in the area, home to Michael Douglas, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities. Among those reportedly damaged was the house belonging to Christopher Lloyd, the actor best known as the zany scientist in the Back to the Future movies.

Winfrey and the actor Rob Lowe said their properties were spared for the time being. Winfrey began her Chicago-based show talking about the fire and showing live TV news footage of the blaze, which she said was burning "about two miles from my house".

Lowe, a neighbour of Winfrey, who stars on the TV drama Brothers & Sisters, said he and his son fled after his wife called them to warn: "Montecito's on fire. Get out."

"We got in the car and pulled out of the driveway and the entire mountain behind us was (in) flames 200 feet high, shooting into the air," Lowe told Winfrey in a telephone interview. "It was absolutely Armageddon."

Rosie Neeley, 31, fled with her parents before their house was consumed by fire overnight. "When we saw the flames coming down the canyon we knew it was too late," she said.

Residents of about 5,500 homes were evacuated in Montecito, the neighbouring city of Santa Barbara, and surrounding areas. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, declared a state of emergency for Santa Barbara county, sending reinforcements to the local fire departments.

More than 1,000 firefighters fought to contain the blaze ahead of winds that were expected to pick up early today. "It's not a time to relax," said the Santa Barbara deputy fire chief, Tom Franklin. "Everybody's got to be diligent through tonight. It's the last evening of these wind events."

Among the 13 people reported injured, 10 had smoke inhalation and three had burns, the county's emergency operations center said in a statement. Two of the burns cases were described as serious.