California’s Sherpa Wildfire Was Accidental, Authorities Say

Authorities say a fire that blazed through miles of California coast last summer was sparked by a man trying to douse a burning log.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department said this week that the Sherpa Fire last June was set by accident.

It began at the Rancho La Scherpa retreat in Los Padres National Forest.

The Fire Department says a man was burning a log in the fireplace when the wind picked up and filled the home with smoke. The man carried the burning log outside to a faucet but dropped hot embers on the ground, igniting the brush.

The resulting blaze scorched more than 111/2 square miles of land and prompted evacuations of homes and beaches in the southwestern area of the county.

It was contained a month later.