The fire was expected to continue moving east and northeast and posed an imminent threat to the small community of Chilili, the Tajique area, and the Ponderosa Pine residential area, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.
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Weather forecasters predicted record temperatures today and hot, dry and unstable weather into the weekend.
Officials say there’s zero containment after the blaze erupted Wednesday afternoon on the flanks of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Good weather the previous night helped firefighters attack the flames, and officials were hoping for more favorable conditions Wednesday night.
For a second night, a freeway, US 101, was closed in the area.
ExxonMobil has evacuated non-essential employees, and those that remain are helping protect it against the flames, company spokesman Todd Spitler said.
The blaze has charred about 12.5 square miles, including areas set on fire by firefighters to deprive the fire of fuel.
A wildfire west of Santa Barbara is still burning out of control in coastal canyons above the Pacific Ocean. It was charring brush and timber about 9 miles from Show Low.
Fire officials say it’s spreading fast and the smoke is making it hard to determine the exact size.
In Nevada, a 300-acre Reno brush fire that threatened dozens of homes was 75 percent contained and crews were mostly in mop-up mode Thursday evening.
A blaze in central New Mexico grew to more than 3 square miles and forced residents to flee at least 50 homes after sending up a towering plume of smoke that blanketed the state’s largest city in a thick haze.
Fire behavior will be less active this morning than the past two days due to the lighter winds but will become more active during the afternoon.
The cause of the fire, which now comprises more than 16,000 acres, remains under investigation.
The blaze burned down to USA 101 overnight, forcing closure of one of California’s major north-south highways from 8:30 p.m. Thursday until it was reopened shortly before dawn Friday.
Heavy winds had pushed the flames close to an ExxonMobil crude oil facility Wednesday and forced the evacuation of hundreds of campers and a handful of rural homes.
Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni says the danger to the facility is minimal Thursday.
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Zaniboni says a fleet of planes are dropping water and retardant and crews are taking advantage of calmer winds as they build lines around the blaze.
