Bonfire Blamed for Sparking Santa Barbara Wildfire

Residents look on as a wind driven Santa Ana fire threatens homes, in Yorba Linda, Calif., Saturday,...

Residents look on as a wind driven Santa Ana fire threatens homes, in Yorba Linda, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Southern Californians endured a third day of destruction Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways. /A member of a search and rescue team walks through a fire-ravaged home in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where 484 homes were lost to a wildfire in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008.

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A bonfire built by a group of young adults caused a weekend wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, including multimillion dollar mansions, and injured more than two dozen people, authorities said Tuesday.

An anonymous tip led to the discovery that 10 college students had gathered for a late night hangout at an abandoned property where the fire originated, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. He declined to say which college the students attended.

"It appears this fire was the result of carelessness, not criminal intent," Brown said.

No criminal charges have been filed, but the county district attorney will review the case, Brown said.

The fire consumed nearly 2,000 acres in Santa Barbara County and critically injured a couple who were burned as they fled their home, which was destroyed by the flames.

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The college group left the smoldering bonfire in the middle of the night and the embers sparked the wildfire 13 to 14 hours later, Brown said. The group had been hanging out at a property known locally as the "tea garden" next to an abandoned tea house in the hills of Montecito.

"They thought the fire was extinguished, but we don't have a lot of detail to disclose about what they did to do so," Brown said.

The fire was the first of three blazes to erupt in Southern California in the last week which have collectively damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes and blacked more than 65 square miles.

In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds that swept six counties like a blowtorch died down Tuesday, allowing crews to mop up the smoldering hotspots.

The fire in the San Fernando Valley was 70 percent contained; a third wildfire in Orange County was 75 percent contained.

For a second day, officials allowed residents to return to the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar for a few minutes to salvage what they could from acres of ashes. The fire burned about 480 homes and left 125 standing.

The county said it was sending crisis counseling teams to comfort the victims.