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 BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) - Cool, damp weather early Saturday helped crews gain ground on the huge wildfire that wiped out this coastal retreat's holiday tourist trade, allowing some personnel and gear to be shifted to a growing blaze farther south
Nearly 2,000 firefighters were trying to stem the advance of the two-week-old blaze in Big Sur that has blackened more than 107 square miles in the northern end of the Los Padres National Forest and destroyed 20 homes.
At the southern end of the national forest, officials extended a mandatory evacuation order to cover 5,000 homes in and around the city of Goleta, while residents of 1,400 other homes were warned to be ready to leave on short notice, said Santa Barbara County spokesman Jim McClure.
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