New evacuations as huge California wildfire flares up

SANTA BARBARA, California - A massive wildfire that has already destroyed nearly 800 structures scorched another 23,000 hectares on Sunday, making it the fifth largest such blaze in recorded state history, as it ran toward picturesque coastal cities.

But fire officials said as darkness fell that with the hot, dry Santa Ana winds not as fierce as expected, crews had been successful in building some fire lines between the flames and the towns of Montecito and Carpinteria.

"This is a menacing fire, certainly, but we have a lot of people working very diligently to bring it under control," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.