Winds temporarily calm on lines of huge California wildfire
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Calming winds Friday gave firefighters a chance to gain ground against a huge wildfire in coastal mountains northwest of Los Angeles but forecasters warned that conditions would remain dry and warm and the respite from gusts would only be temporary.
Red Flag warnings for the critical combination of low humidity and strong winds expired for a swath of Southern California at midmorning but a new warning was scheduled to go into effect Saturday in the fire area due to the predicted return of winds.
The so-called Thomas Fire, the fourth-largest in California history, was 35 per cent contained after sweeping across more than 394 square miles (1,020 sq. kilometres) of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since it erupted Dec. 4 a few miles from Thomas Aquinas College.
One focus of firefighting was on the eastern flank in canyons where a state firefighter was killed Thursday near the agricultural town of Fillmore.