MONTECITO: Firefighters were battling a wind-driven wildfire on Friday that ripped through an exclusive California enclave, forcing celebrities, millionaires and thousands of residents to flee. At least 100 homes in the hillside community of Montecito, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Angeles, had been gutted by the blaze which was raging in the rugged hills and canyons of the picturesque seaside town. Montecito, ranked by Forbes magazine in 2006 as the seventh most expensive neighborhood in the United States with an average home price of 2.9 million dollars, is a popular retreat for the rich and famous. Celebrities such as talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood actors Michael Douglas, Jeff Bridges and Rob Lowe all own property in the area. The firestorm erupted after flames driven by wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour, known locally as "sundowners", overwhelmed firefighters on Thursday. There have been no reported fatalities but 13 injuries, including three suffering from burns and 10 suffering from smoke inhalation according to figures from Santa Barbara County.Fire officials told reporters Friday that control of the blaze, which had burned more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares) was "not even in sight" and suggested the number of homes destroyed may have been greater. Santa Barbara County fire official Kevin Wallace said bluntly: "Mother Nature is in control and we aren't." Some 4,500 people have received mandatory evacuation orders while a further 4,500 have been advised to leave their homes, as an army of 1,200 firefighters, including a DC-10 retardant-dropping super-tanker, tackles the flames.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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