Residents flee as flames approach wealthy California enclave

Residents piled into cars and fled, turning downtown Santa Barbara into "a ghost town" as surging winds drove one of the biggest fires in California's history toward the city and the nearby wealthy enclave of Montecito last night.

The mandatory evacuations around Montecito and neighbouring Summerland came as winds that had eased a day earlier roared back at around 30mph, with gusts to about 60mph.