Homeowners, firefighters share credit

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Relieved to see their ash-covered houses still intact, grateful homeowners are paying tribute to firefighters by tooting car horns and posting large thank-you signs on their front lawns.

The firefighters, who began to get the upper hand this weekend on a fierce blaze that destroyed dozens of homes, were just as quick to share the credit.

They say if residents of the hillside homes ringing Santa Barbara hadn’t been aggressive in clearing brush and fire-prone plants from their property, hundreds of homes, not just 31, could have been lost.

“More homes would have burned had they not done their defensible space work,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said.

The fire also has damaged 47 homes and forced about 30,000 people to flee.