Residents watch as a brush fire burns out of control in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Goleta, Calif., on Wednesday, July 2, 2008. California fires are raging from the western edge of the Sierra Nevada to coastal mountains near Big Sur. They have created a smoky haze so stifling that some doctors in the San Joaquin Valley say their waiting rooms have been crowding with patients struggling to breathe.
Fires burn at the top of Palo Colorado Canyon in the Basin Complex Fire in Big Sur, Calif., on Monday, June 30, 2008. More than a thousand wildfires, including a massive, stubborn blaze in the Big Sur region, were burning early Monday in Northern California and there was no relief in sight for weary firefighters.
Fire Captain-Supervisor Todd Tindill hikes down a hill to help firefighters contain the West Fire near Stirling City, Calif., on Monday, June 30, 2008. Hundreds of wildfires burned across central and northern California for a second week Monday, an explosive start to a fire season likely to last well into October as dry, hot weather, rough terrain and lightning storms complicate efforts to bring blazes under control.
U.S. Forest Service Fire Fighters work on a fire line below a home in in Big Sur, Calif., on Monday June 30, 2008. Hundreds of wildfires burned across central and northern California for a second week, an explosive start to a fire season likely to last well into October as dry, hot weather, rough terrain and lightning storms complicate efforts to bring blazes under control.
A U.S. Forest Service Fire Fighter watches from a vantage point at the top of Palo Colorado Canyon in Big Sur, Calif., on Monday June 30, 2008.
U.S. Forest Service crew Superintendent Chip Laughaun, center, in red hat, briefs his firefighters before creating a fire line beneath a house at Bottchers Gap as the Basin Complex Fire burns downhill towards Palo Colorado Canyon in Big Sur, Calif., on Monday June 30, 2008.
Fire burns downhill towards the Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp at the top of Palo Colorado Canyon during the Basin Complex Fire in Big Sur, Calif., on Monday, June 30, 2008. The number of fires burning in central and Northern California - more than 1,000 according to state fire officials - means authorities can't send firefighters to battle every blaze, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service.
Using hand tools and chain saws, firefighters from the Eel River, Dept. of Corrections cut a line through thick brush to contain the West Fire near Stirling City, Calif., on Monday, June 30, 2008.
Using hand tools and chain saws, firefighters from the Eel River, Dept. of Corrections cut a line through thick brush to contain the West Fire near Stirling City, Calif., on Monday, June 30, 2008.
A helicopter flies next to the well-known restaurant and shop, Nepenthe, after picking up water to fight a wildfire in Big Sur, Calif., Monday, June 30, 2008. Firefighters hoped coastal fog would help them gain ground against a blaze that was just 3 percent contained in the storied town of Big Sur. John Heil, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said it had blackened nearly 62 square miles, or about 39,600 acres.
A firefighter walks around his fire truck in Big Sur, Calif., Monday, June 30, 2008. Firefighters saved the well-known Deetjen Big Sur Inn from a wildfire last week but still faced an uphill battle in their efforts to contain a blaze that has charred 62 square miles.
Smoke rises from a wildfire burning in Big Sur, Calif., Monday, June 30, 2008.
Two firefighters watch smoke from a wildfire in Big Sur, Calif., Monday, June 30, 2008.