Fast-Moving Wildfire Forces Evacuations At Spanish Mission Near Santa Barbara
LOMPOC (CBS SF) -- A wildfire burning near a historic mission in a rural area of Lompoc has prompted authorities to order the evacuation of approximately 1,200 people.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department Capt. Dave Zaniboni says the blaze broke out about 1:30 p.m. Monday.
No structures have burned, but Zaniboni says the fire is not far from La Purisima Mission, which was constructed in 1787.
About 120 firefighters, bolstered by four water-dropping air tankers and three helicopters, are battling the brush-fed blaze.
Zaniboni says an evacuation center has been established in Lompoc, 150 miles north of Los Angeles.
Authorities have also established a hotline for people who need to move large animals.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.