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Bonfire caused blaze in California celebrity enclave: police
2008-11-19
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A bonfire started by youths caused a raging inferno which roared through a California celebrity enclave and destroyed dozens of multi-million dollar homes, police said Wednesday. A statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office said the fire that erupted in exclusive Montecito last Thursday was started from a bonfire lit the previous night by youths who had been in the area. "Although the young adults believed they had extinguished the bonfire, it is not uncommon for fires of this type to have an ignition potential for a few days," the statement said. "Due to the weather conditions on Thursday, the fire reignited." The local District Attorney's office was to decide if any criminal charges will be filed, the sheriff's office said. Dozens of multi-million-dollar mansions were among some 210 residences destroyed by the Montecito fire, which consumed around 1,940 acres (785 hectares) of tinder-dry brush. The fire was fully contained late Monday. Montecito, ranked by Forbes magazine in 2006 as the seventh most expensive neighborhood in the United States with an average home price of 2.9 million dollars, is a popular retreat for the rich and famous. Celebrities such as talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood actors Michael Douglas, Jeff Bridges and Rob Lowe all own property in the area. Lowe was among residents forced to flee after the fire broke out last week although his home eventually survived the flames. Winfrey's 50-million-dollar 42-acre estate in Montecito also emerged unscathed from the fires.
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