A wildfire threatened homes and forced evacuations Wednesday on a rocky hillside above the scenic oceanside city of Santa Barbara.
The fire erupted shortly before 8 a.m. and consumed 15 acres in the Painted Cave area near Highway 154. Winds were light, and the fire was spreading slowly toward hillside homes in steep terrain, fire officials said.
The National Weather Service said winds could gust to 20 mph later in the day.
Television reports showed a dense plume of greyish-white smoke above hills densely carpeted with chaparral that lead to heavily wooded mountains about 75 miles north of Los Angeles.
Firefighters protected homes and turned hoses on a sheet of flame.
Six air tankers were called in to help stop the blaze.
The cause of the fire was unknown but some power lines were down in the area, Santa Barbara County fire Capt. David Sadecki said.
The Painted Cave area was the scene of another fire in 1990 that killed one person and burned about 550 homes over 7 1/2 square miles.
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