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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16-- The ferocious wildfire raging in the U.S. state of California for nearly two weeks grew more volatile on Saturday, threatening a wealthy community northwest of Los Angeles and prompting new evacuation orders in Santa Barbara County. The so-called Thomas Fire, now ranked the third largest wildfire in modern history of California, was moving rapidly and now took aim at the hills above the unincorporated Santa Barbara County community of Montecito known for its luxury resorts and mansions of celebrities. Under Saturday's orders, the evacuation zone for Thomas Fire has been expanded to 17 miles (28.9 kilometers) long and 5 miles (8.5 kilometers) wide. Taking advantage of a lull in winds in last Wednesday to Friday, firefighters cleared contained areas along the westernmost edge of the giant blaze to stop the wildfire from approaching communities at foothills, Tony Pighetti, a captain of the Santa Barbara fire department, told Xinhua. However, fueled by a new blast of Santa Ana winds which were predicted to hit the area through Sunday with gusts of 65 mph (110 kph), the Thomas Fire moved northward fast Saturday and the flame has been seen on top of hill over the town. Kelly Hoover, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's spokeswoman, said that authorities dispatched hundreds of crews to Montecito, checking the communities door to door and ordering residents to leave the evacuation zone. She warned that the situation was really dangerous for their lives since the Santa Ana winds mixed with the Sundowner, a northerly offshore wind in Santa Barbara. | 
