California wildfire estimate doubles

Fire officials have more than doubled their estimate of how many acres have burned in a wildfire raging along mountain slopes above Santa Barbara.

Fire officials have more than doubled their estimate of how many acres have burned in a wildfire raging along mountain slopes above Santa Barbara. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says new aircraft tracking shows the fire has burned 8,600 acres (3,480 hectares). Earlier on Friday, officials estimated the 4-day-old blaze had burned 3,500 acres (1,400 hectares).

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Fire spokesman Dennis Mathisen says the smaller estimate was based on firefighters surveying the blaze at night from the ground. The new acreage count was taken by aircraft during the day. The fire has destroyed an estimated 80 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people.

Containment is estimated at 10 per cent.