Firefighters hold line on two California wildfires

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Exhausted California firefighters worked on Friday to contain two wildfires threatening homes along the coast before sundown, when shifting winds were expected to give the blazes more power.

Fire crews have been battling a siege of more than 1,000 blazes that have blackened nearly a half million acres across the state since lightning storms in early June ignited drought- and disease-plagued brush and trees.

The Basin Complex and Gap fires, burning about 170 miles (273 km) apart, are being fed by dense, tall grass and brush chaparral in steep, rocky terrain that has not burned in some places for more than half a century.

The Gap fire, considered the state's top priority because of its proximity to homes in Goleta, a town of about 30,000 about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles, burned within a few feet of dozens of homes overnight and still threatens some 2,600 homes.

The fire started on Tuesday evening along a ridge in the Los Padres National Forest, about 3 miles north of Goleta, and has since grown to 5,400 acres (2,185 hectares). The cause is still under investigation, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea.

Fire crews on the ground spent Friday afternoon building lines around the main blaze and clearing brush around homes and buildings, while air crews tried to smother flames with water and fire retardant in the fire's path.

"(The afternoon) is when the fire is most active," Florea said. "The humidity has come up a little today. That helped."

But during the night, moisture-laden coastal winds have been giving way to a dry, offshore flow known as a "sundowner" that has pushed the fire downhill toward Goleta, he said.