Los Angeles, Wednesday.
A WILDFIRE raging out of control in California's Los Padres National
Forest since Saturday has burned more than 22,000 acres and was today
beginning to threaten dozens of homes.
The fire, in Santa Barbara county, about 100 miles north-west of Los
Angeles, threatened cabins, ranches, and livestock in an area near the
Santa Ynez Valley, site of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and where
Bo Derek and other celebrities have properties.
Jackson, currently in Switzerland on tour, was reportedly being kept
in touch with the situation. He has his own fire station at Neverland,
where employees were ready to move out his menagerie including chimps,
giraffes, llamas, parrots, and zebras if it becomes necessary.
Residents closer to the danger had been told to be ready to leave,
said Forest Service spokesman Jerry Little, as about 3200 firefighters
fought the blaze in rugged terrain.
The was no estimate for when the fire, believed to have been caused by
a deer hunter's cigarette, would be brought under control.
Forest Service spokeswoman Sharon Sprouse said tonight: ''No
structures have been lost. Only a handful of people and some livestock
have been evacuated.''--Reuter/AP.
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