Wildfires threaten 4,500 homes in Calif.

Wildfires threaten 4,500 homes in Calif.

BIG SUR, Calif. — A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California’s central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes.

While flames from the stubborn fire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to Big Sur’s historic vacation retreats, state emergency officials said hot winds had caused a newer blaze 200 miles south in Santa Barbara County to double overnight.

Residents of more than 1,700 homes in and around the city of Goleta were ordered to evacuate, joining an equal number of people who were told to leave Big Sur days earlier.

Driven by wind gusts as high as 40 mph, the Santa Barbara County fire was so fierce early Friday that firefighters at one point took shelter in about 70 homes they were trying to defend, said Capt. Eli Iskow of the county fire department.

July 4 shootings kill 4 on streets of Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — At least one person fired a gun into a crowd in a street early Friday, killing four people and sending panicked revelers running for cover, police said.

Two women, age 23 and 27, and two men, age 34 and 28, were killed at about 2:30 a.m. on the city’s north side, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said.

Two people were injured, including Sylvia Ware, who was returning home from celebrating her 35th birthday at a nightclub.

Helicopter toll grows

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Authorities say the lone survivor of a midair crash of two medical helicopters has died at a hospital.

Police and officials at Flagstaff Medical Center say 36-year-old James Taylor died Friday.

He was a registered nurse flying on a helicopter Sunday taking a patient from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff.

The death toll is now seven.

Associated Press