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LOS ANGELES - Firefighters reported progress in their fight against two large wildfires threatening thousands of homes along California's coastline on Saturday.
With more than 330 wildfires listed as active across the state Saturday, attention focused on blazes near the tourist haven of Big Sur and the town of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, 103 miles (165 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
The Goleta blaze has forced the evacuation of 2,663 homes according to latest figures and jumped to more than 8,350 acres (3,380 hectares) overnight as it ripped through forest and chapparal that has not burnt for 50 years.
An army of 1,186 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which is so far 24 percent contained. Efforts to tame the fire have been hampered by the region's steep slopes and deep ravines.
Incident commander James Smith said weary firecrews faced a crucial day on Saturday as they attempted to tighten their grip on the fires before the return of night-time winds known as "sundowners."
"This is going to be a critical day for us," Smith was quoted by local media as saying at a 6:00 am (1300 GMT) briefing.
"We want to be vigilant, we want to stay persistent and put a good amount of effort in the (east) today . . . so we can seal it up . . . so we can focus on the (west) tomorrow."
The fire besieging the seaside town of Big Sur, 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of San Francisco, has so far claimed 68,712 acres and is only five percent contained. Nearly 2,000 firefighters are deployed against the fire.
State-wide, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) said 332 fires remained active.
A total of 1,783 fires have broken out since June 20, when lightning from dry thunderstorms triggered a series of forest infernos.
Some 526,707 acres have been scorched during the crisis, which has seen 20,260 personnel deployed including 1,641 engines, 331 dozers and 118 helicopters.
CALFIRE said 10,917 residences remained threatened, while 34 homes and 51 other structures had been destroyed.
- AFP /ls
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