Cooler Weather Gives Firefighters Boost

Wildfire On California's Central Coast Threatens Nearly 2,700 Homes

(CBS/ AP)  Cooler weather on Sunday gave a boost to crews battling an enormous wildfire on California's central coast that was threatening nearly 2,700 homes.

The four-day-old fire in the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara, which had blackened about 13 square miles, spread slightly during the night but firefighting crews were able to keep up with it, county spokeswoman Vickie Guthrie said.

As of Sunday morning, the fire in the area of the town of Goleta was 28 percent contained, she said.

And with lower wind and higher humidity forecast for Sunday, crews were optimistic they could get more acreage under control.

In northern California the fire raging near the tourist community of Big Sur is still only 11 percent contained, reports CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes and 1,800 buildings are threatened, including businesses that usually have their busiest weekend over the Independence Day holiday. Tom Birmingham can only watch and hope to help fire fighters protect his family restaurant.

"None of us have any expectation of being heroes in this situation," Birmingham said. "We all think that we have a role to play here, to keep an eye out for hot spots on our property and the property of our neighbors."

Wildfires have charred more than 800 square miles of forest, brush and grass and have destroyed at least 69 homes throughout California, mainly in the northern part of the state, in the past two weeks. One firefighter died of a heart attack.

According to state forestry officials, at one time there were more than 1,700 active fires, but about 1,400 had been contained, leaving more than 330 still out of control Sunday morning.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who on Saturday visited a command post in Santa Barbara County, has ordered 400 National Guard troops trained to help fight the blazes. He also urged lawmakers to adopt his budget plan for a $70 million emergency surcharge on home and business insurance policies to buy more firefighting equipment.

Nearly 2,700 homes in Santa Barbara County remained under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday and residents of 1,400 others were warned to be ready to flee.

The fire, fueled by 15-foot-high, half-century-old chaparral, still had the potential to roll through a hilly area of ranches, housing tracts and orchards between the town of Goleta and Santa Barbara, keeping firefighters on their toes.

Investigators think the fire, which began Tuesday, was human-caused.