SANTA BARBARA, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- Residents in a mountainous region of Southern California were allowed to return home Wednesday after officials said a wildfire was 80 percent contained.
The White fire had burned more than 1,800 acres of the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County since Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Many campgrounds and roads remained closed as fire crews worked to put out small hot spots and keep the blaze from advancing to the northeast.
Some residents along the Santa Ynez River were allowed to return home Tuesday night, the Forest Service said.
Forest Service officials downsized earlier estimates the fire had scorched 2,025 acres.
Firefighters' struggle to contain the blaze was being complicated by temperatures forecast to climb into the low 80s with winds gusting as high as 50 mph.
The high winds grounded fixed-wing aircraft that had dropped retardant chemicals on the fire, but water-dropping helicopters were able to fly, said Forest Service spokeswoman Paula Martinez.
