Firefighters Battle California Brushfire as Heatwave Looms

Firefighters battling a California wildfire that forced the evacuation of campgrounds and ranches were struggling with strong overnight winds and bracing for rising temperatures as an extreme heatwave is expected to sweep across the Southwest this weekend.

Firefighters from the Lompoc City Fire Department take shelter behind their engine on June 16, 2016, as wind driven flames advance from the Sherpa Fire. The flames were crossing Calle Real near El Capitan State Park in Santa Barbara County. Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

GOLETA, Calif.—Firefighters battling a California wildfire that forced the evacuation of campgrounds and ranches were struggling with strong overnight winds and bracing for rising temperatures as an extreme heatwave is expected to sweep across the Southwest this weekend.

The blaze—which shut down U.S. 101, the state’s major coastal highway, for two nights in a row—more than tripled in size Friday and had consumed 9 square miles of heavy brush.

The fire was 20 percent contained but so-called “sundowner” winds that rush down the mountains in 40 mph gusts were beginning to kick up again Friday night, fire officials said.

“It’s very hot and dangerous,” Susan Klein-Rothschild with the county health department said of the blaze. “The last couple of nights...it’s calmer during the day and the eruptions and explosions and expansions have happened during the night hours.”

A DC-10 tanker drops fire retardant at a low altitude to help combat a wildfire near Santa Barbara, Calif., on June 17, 2016. The latest size estimate Friday morning is nearly three times the previous acreage, with just 5 percent containment. The fire has been stoked by the region's afternoon and evening "Sundowner" winds, which blast down the face of the Santa Ynez Mountains toward the Pacific Ocean. AP Photo/Nick Ut