22,000-Acre Piru Blaze Is 55% Contained

PIRU — Residents who had been bracing for an evacuation as a fire burned outside town learned Sunday that the flames were moving away, and officials said they had the blaze more than half contained.

The fire has charred 22,000 acres of unincorporated land and Los Padres National Forest property since it began last week, and crews have it 55% contained, said Mary Guokas, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

High humidity and lower temperatures kept the blaze from expanding as furiously as it had last week, she said. Fillmore and Piru are south of the fire, which was moving east.

A second fire also burned Sunday in Los Padres forest, 20 miles east of Santa Maria, along the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo county line. It had scorched 50,000 acres and was 75% contained, Guokas said.

About 1,300 firefighters aided by four air tankers and 11 helicopters were battling the larger fire.

A blaze in the Monarch Wilderness Area of Sequoia National Forest had charred about 2,100 acres by Sunday and was 29% contained. No giant sequoias or buildings were threatened.