L U C E O

Santa Barbara, Calif., May 6, 2009 - Charlie Duff puts on his shoes, while his wife Cathy Duff holds a flashlight and watches the oncoming blaze from the Jesusita Fire off of Gibraltar Road. The couple owns two homes in the area. There primary home (seen here) was nearly destroyed by last year's Tea Fire, but that blaze also knocked back the grass and brush that would be fuel for this fire. The blaze was quickly approaching their second home located higher up in the mountain. The blaze...
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Santa Barbara, Calif., May 6, 2009 - Charlie Duff puts on his shoes, while his wife Cathy Duff holds a flashlight and watches the oncoming blaze from the Jesusita Fire off of Gibraltar Road. The couple owns two homes in the area. There primary home (seen here) was nearly destroyed by last year's Tea Fire, but that blaze also knocked back the grass and brush that would be fuel for this fire. The blaze was quickly approaching their second home located higher up in the mountain. The blaze destroyed several homes in the area as well as knocking out the 220-kilovolt Goleta transmission line which are the primary source for Santa Barbara County. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency. During a 10 am press conference the Governor added that 5,400 homes (13,575 people) have been evacuated, 3,500 homes are considered threatened and several dozen have been lost, though no official number has been released.
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