State of Emergency in California as Blaze Rages

Wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour whipped into the canyon Thursday night, causing the fire to rage out of control almost immediately.

Firefighters call them sundowner winds, and they destroyed dozens of homes in a matter of hours.

The fire was moving toward the more densely populated neighborhoods in Santa Barbara, and about 500 firefighters were aggressively working to push back the blaze. Fire officials said if the winds didn't calm down today, the results could be catastrophic.

Mary-Louise Scully, an infectious disease doctor and Santa Barbara resident, found her home reduced to ashes. She told ABC's Lisa Fletcher that she had just moments to grab what she should before evacuating.

"I did get the animals out, but there wasn't time at that point [to grab more]," she said. "The ridge was on fire and I left."

She walked through the smoldering remains of a lifetime of memories, hoping that some of her family's most important possessions made it through the fire.

"I've been crying most of the night and the day as we watched. I don't think it's quite until you see it that now it's hitting home," she said.

Fire Close to Hollywood Celeb Houses

Some residents stayed in their homes, determined to put up a fight to save some of the most expensive real estate in the country.

"We are going to keep on watering our house to keep the fire from taking our house too," one woman said.

Montecito is home to several big Hollywood players, such as Steven Spielberg, Rob Lowe, Christopher Lloyd and Oprah Winfrey, who owns a 42-acre property there.

"It is not threatening Oprah Winfrey's place at all. It is not burning in that direction," said Curtis Vincent, the public information officer of the Montecito Fire Department.

It wasn't just the rich who were burned out. Kelly Voysan, a construction worker who had worked on many of the luxury homes, returned to smoking rubble.

"There wasn't any time for an evacuation," said Voysan. "All there was was fire engines roaring up the street saying get out of here. And we left and this is what I came back to."