During the last few days, evacuated residents have been let back into their homes, but some residences on West Camino Cielo were still off limits.

With the blaze receding from areas closest to suburban neighborhoods, it is still slowly advancing through thick brush to the north and northwest toward steep canyons dotted with homes.

"We've got a lot of structure protection crews just waiting," said Capt. Eli Iskow, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. "We've got a hot day ahead of us and need to stop the fire tucked away in the canyon."

In Big Sur, about 200 residents and business owners evacuated last week were allowed to return Tuesday to find out whether their properties had survived.

The Basin Complex fire, which has burned 86,726 acres, was 27 percent contained Wednesday morning. It has destroyed 24 structures and still threatens 2,255 others.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2008)