A wind-driven brush fire destroyed as many as 100 homes Thursday in the hills of the wealthy Southern California coastal town of Montecito, forcing residents to flee what has long been a hideaway for the rich and famous.Montecito fire spokeswoman Geri Ventura said she did not know exactly how many homes had burned, but television footage showed flames engulfing dozens of large multimillion-dollar houses. Ventura said about a quarter of the community of 10,000 people was evacuated and more could be moved if the fire spreads.
The fire broke out shortly before 6 p.m. and quickly spread through more than 300 acres in the foothills five miles south of Santa Barbara. Several fire departments were battling the flames as thick plumes of smoke hovered overhead.
"It looked like lava coming down a volcano," Leslie Hollis Lopez told The Associated Press as she gathered belongings from her house.
It was immediately not known whether any celebrities' homes had burned or whether anyone was injured.
One resident described the area as deserted.
"You can just hear the explosions ... of vehicles, homes," Michaelo Rosso told KCAL-TV as he prepared to leave his home. "It sounds like the Fourth of July out here."
Santa Barbara County officials said about 125 engines and three water-dropping helicopters were en route or at the scene. Firefighters faced wind gusts as high as 70 mph Thursday night. Gusts were expected to remain strong through early Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The fire temporarily knocked out power to more than 20,000 homes in Santa Barbara, said Southern California Edison spokesman Paul Klein. He said only scattered pockets of homes were without power by late Thursday.
Click to view photos of the flames
:www.foxnews.com
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