SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A cool sea breeze provided some relief for firefighters battling a blaze that has destroyed scores of homes in California, but they feared dry inland winds could return to stoke the fire on Saturday.

“Sundowners,” fierce local winds that sweep down the mountain slopes from north to south and out to sea, are being blamed for fanning a small wildfire into a savage inferno that has consumed 8,600 acres and about 80 homes, menacing this celebrity enclave and other coastal towns.

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