Santa Barbara (US), Dec 15 (AP) A firefighter has diedwhile working a colossal wildfire burning in coastal mountainsnorthwest of Los Angeles that has become the fourth largest inCalifornia history.
Cory Iverson was an engineer with a state fire enginestrike team based in San Diego. Iverson, 32, is survived byhis pregnant wife and a 2-year-old daughter, Fire Chief KenPimlott of the California Department of Forestry and FireProtection said yesterday.
Iverson had been with the state since 2009.
Pimlott did not provide any details about the death butsaid it was under investigation by an accident review team.
Pimlott said he was "deeply saddened" by Iverson's deathbut added that fire crews were continuing to focus on theirmission.
"The firefight in front of us continues to go on. Thecommunities we are protecting are depending on us and we willnot fail," he said at an afternoon news conference.
Last afternoon, dozens of police and fire vehiclesescorted a hearse carrying Iverson's flag-draped body to thecounty medical examiner's office in Ventura.
It was the second death linked to the fire. A 70-year-oldwoman was killed in a car crash while evacuating as the fireraged last week. Her body was found inside the wrecked caralong an evacuation route.
A return of gusty Santa Ana winds brought renewedactivity to inland portions of the so-called Thomas Firestraddling coastal Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Authorities said it now covered 982 sq km. That surpasseda blaze that burned inland Santa Barbara County a decade ago.
Firefighting costs so far were tallied at USD 74.7 million,according to Cal Fire.
Some evacuations were lifted and the risk to theagricultural city of Fillmore was diminishing. But coastalenclaves to the west remained under threat as crews protectedhillside homes in Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria.
Schools were closed and many roads remained shut down.
The USA Water Polo Women's National Team match against theNetherlands scheduled for tomorrow in Santa Barbara was movedto Orange County.
The National Weather Service said extreme fire dangerconditions could last through the weekend due to lack ofmoisture along with a likely increase in wind speeds.
Firefighters made some progress on Wednesday oncorralling the fire, which continued to spread mostly intonational forest land.
Since the blaze broke out on December 4, it has burneddestroyed 970 buildings -- including at least 700 homes.
Flames threatened some 18,000 buildings and promptedevacuations of about 100,000 people. Covering more ground thanthe city of San Diego, it was 30 per cent contained.
To the south in San Diego County, firefighters came veryclose to containing another major wildfire a week after itbroke out.
That fire burned down 157 structures, most in itsdestructive first hours. It also killed 46 race horses at atraining centre, and left one of their trainers with seriousburns. (AP)KIS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.