Wildfires Threaten Santa Barbara County

GOLETA, CA - JULY 05: Evacuees view a fire map at an evacuation center during the Gap fire, now officially the top priority fire in the state, as hundreds of wildfires burn in central and northern California, on July 5, 2008 near Goleta, California. The 6,660-acre Gap fire is spreading across the chaparral-covered Santa Ynez Mountains of the Los Padres National Forest, drawing closer to many houses that were rebuilt after the1990 Painted Cave fire destroyed 400 homes. An estimated 4,000 people have evacuated from about 1,700 homes in the path of the fire. President Bush has declared a state of emergency for all of California in response to more than 1,400 fires that were mostly started by dry lightning storms crossing the state on June 20. Making matters worse for the more than 19,000 firefighters from 42 states battling the California wildfires, drought is wicking moisture from the vegetation which leads fire experts to fear a possible repeat of the firestorms of 2003 and 2007 that destroyed thousands of homes in southern California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)