Wildfire rages in California celebrity enclave

MONTECITO, California (Reuters) - A wind-driven brush fire in Southern California roared through exclusive estates in the seaside celebrity enclave of Montecito, injuring 13 people and gutting well over 100 homes, authorities said on Friday.

Those reported to have lost their homes in the community dubbed "America's Riviera" included actor Christopher Lloyd, best known as the zany scientist in the "Back to the Future" movies. Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and actor Rob Lowe said their properties were spared for the time being.

The fire erupted on Thursday evening and charred at least 2,000 acres overnight, blazing through entire blocks of mansions in the hamlet 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles in upscale Santa Barbara County.

More than 5,400 homes have been evacuated in the area. Montecito lies in the affluent 90402 zip (postal) code listed by Forbes magazine in 2006 as the seventh-highest-priced area in the United States.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for the county, putting additional state resources at the disposal of local fire departments.

Firefighters were largely powerless to stop the destruction overnight as gusts howling at 70 mph fanned the flames in the foothills overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

"Mother Nature basically took over," Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Wallace told a news conference.

Winds died down after sunrise but were expected to kick up again later on Friday, leaving some 650 firefighters a brief opportunity to gain some ground.

"We're going to have a tough day ahead. Control of this fire is not even in sight," said Don Prince, fire chief of the neighboring city of Santa Barbara. "We're not out of the woods by any stretch."

'IT WAS TOO LATE'

Lowe, who stars on the TV drama "Brothers & Sisters," said he and his son fled their home after his wife called them to warn: "Montecito's on fire. Get out!"

"We got in the car and pulled out of the driveway and the entire mountain behind us was (in) flames 200 feet high, shooting into the air," Lowe told Winfrey in a telephone interview. "It was absolutely Armageddon."

Winfrey opened her Chicago-based show talking about the fire and showing live TV news footage of the blaze, which she said was burning "about 2 miles from my house."

Many others were not as lucky as Lowe and Winfrey.

Rosie Neeley, 31, fled with her parents before their house was consumed by fire overnight. "When we saw the flames coming down the canyon, we knew it was too late." she said.

Longtime residents Cheryl and Gary Jensen, both 59, said they, too, were first alerted to danger on Thursday night by a phone call and fled as flames neared.

They returned on Friday to find their $2 million home leveled, a half-melted, blackened hulk of their refrigerator still visible in the remains of their kitchen.

"It's all dust now," Cheryl Jensen said as she tearfully peered down at the smoldering ruins.

The caretaker for Lloyd's $11 million adobe estate "fled for his life" in the firestorm on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Times' real estate columnist reported, quoting the actor's property manager at Sotheby's International Realty. She said the home was "at least partially burned, if not totally."

Prince said "well over 100 homes" had been lost in the blaze since Thursday night. Many had been saved thanks to "some super-heroic efforts" on the part of firefighters, including the crews of water-dropping helicopters that flew through darkness with night-vision goggles, he said.

Among the 13 people reported injured, 10 suffered from smoke inhalation and three from burns, the county's emergency operations center said in a statement. Two of the burn injuries were described as serious.

Officials said 1,000 students at Westmont College, a private Christian university that suffered substantial damage in the blaze, were out of harm's way after taking shelter in a fireproof gymnasium.

(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Dean Goodman and Mary Milliken; Editing by Peter Cooney)