A wildfire that broke out in the mountains of Southern California’s Santa Barbara County has burned more than 40,000 acres, prompting evacuations and threatening ranches including Michael Jackson’s former Neverland Ranch, authorities said.
The blaze, dubbed the Lake Fire, broke out shortly before 4 p.m. Friday near Zaca Lake, just northeast of the town of Los Olivos. according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The cause of the fire, which was still zero percent under control on Sunday, is still being investigated.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office an evacuation order has been issued for an area near the Los Padres National Forest that includes the estate once known as Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, a 2,700-acre property in Los Olivos, California.
About 100 residents were affected by the evacuation order, said Kenichi Haskett, a public information officer for Cal Fire. No structural damage, injuries or deaths have been reported so far.
The wind was blowing the fire southeast. Neverland Ranch and other ranches were in imminent danger Sunday, Mr. Haskett said.
Mr. Jackson purchased the ranch in 1988 for about $17 million and transformed it into a private entertainment complex, complete with a zoo, a train and an amusement park with a Ferris wheel and a 50-seat theater.
He named it Neverland Ranch, after the mythical island where Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, lived.
Before his death in 2009, he faced several allegations that he had molested young boys, with some of his accusers claiming they were abused at Neverland. After a 2005 trial that saw him acquitted, Mr. Jackson never returned to his ranch.
Scott Safechuck, a public information officer with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said on social media that temperatures in the area rose above 30 degrees Celsius last weekend and that relative humidity was low.
More than 750 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service and Santa Barbara County Fire Department have been assigned to the fire, the us forest service saidAccording to Safechuck, the air support consisted of ten firefighting aircraft and three helicopters.
Evacuation warnings were in effect north of Zaca Lake Road, east of Foxen Canyon Road, and south of the Sisquoc River, according to Inciwebthe national incident information system for forest fires and all-hazard incidents.
The fire was first reported at 3:45 p.m., according to the U.S. Forest Service. A combustible mix of low relative humidity, gusty winds and scorching temperatures helped the blaze swell to 4,000 acres by 11 p.m., the agency said. By Sunday, the fire had burned at least 16,452 acres.
