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A fire has reached as close as 2 miles to populated areas of Goleta today after burning through 200 to 300 acres in Los Padres National Forest since Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the stubborn Big Sur blaze jumped a containment line this morning, forcing more evacuations there and shutting down Highway 1 -- the area's chief road -- for 30 miles. The development was a setback not just for local residents but for a number of famed resorts and restaurants that had been in harm's way earlier but reopened in the past few days.

The community of Big Sur was evacuated, and landmarks like the Ventana Inn and the Post Ranch Inn shut their doors today as the notoriously unpredictable fire raged.

"It seems to be giving the fire guys conniption fits," said Darby Marshall, a spokesman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services. "It's doing things they normally wouldn't expect."

In Goleta, Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow said light winds have helped firefighters this morning, but there's great concern about stronger winds forecast for this afternoon, and possibly powerful and erratic "sundowner" winds.

So firefighters are hitting the flames hard, with four helicopters and four air tankers.

"The wind is in our favor and we are taking advantage of that by dropping everything we've got on it," Iskow said. "We're trying to stay ahead of the flames before the winds arrive."

About 300 homes are downhill of the flames, Iskow said, but is burning entirely within national forest land.

Nearly 200 firefighters are battling the fire, including crews from the city of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

"Everybody's helping each other without question, but we all know that if they have a fire in their own area they'll be taking off," he said while expressing gratitude for the assistance.

Today's fire is burning about two miles west of the path of the 1990 Painted Cave Fire, which burned 600 structures in 90 minutes.

Celia Breyfogle, 75, and her husband Newell, 78, walked up to the corner of Cathedral Oaks Boulevard and La Patera Lane to view the advancing flames this morning. Helicopters dropping fire retardant and water whirred above plumes of beige smoke.

"As long as the winds don't blow, I think we'll be all right," said Newell Breyfogle.

The Breyfogles said they have several friends who lost their homes in 1990, and that they have already boxed up clothing, pictures and documents in case they have to flee.

"They told us to be ready to evacuate," said Celia Breyfogle, who added: "It's been a terrible year. The Midwest is getting water, water, water, and we're getting fire, fire, fire. Wish we could all share," she said.

Motorists on the 101 Freeway this morning could see fingers of smoke working their way down the mountain.

The blaze, which is being called the Gap Fire, started about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday on a ridge in the Santa Barbara County city of Goleta but the cause remains unknown.

The evacuation order, still in effect today, was mandatory in Glen Annie and La Patera canyons, and an evacuation warning was issued for residents above Cathedral Oaks Road, between Glen Annie Road and Fairview Avenue.

Iskow said about 40 homes were evacuated. A shelter was opened at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara for residents and their small pets.

Firefighters also continue to battle numerous wildfires that have burned more than 440,000 acres in Northern California, including a blaze that has charred homes and threatened tourist haunts along the Big Sur coast.

Statewide, 7,800 homes remain threatened and 31 residences have been destroyed.

On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the California National Guard to deploy ground forces for the first time in three decades to help weary firefighters battling blazes from Kern County to the Oregon border.

Flames dogged the Big Sur coast in Los Padres National Forest, where they have destroyed 16 coastal homes and continue to threaten 1,200 more residences and some famed local institutions.

U.S. Forest Service officials ordered about 200 people along a sparsely populated, 20-mile stretch of coast south of the town of Big Sur to evacuate late Tuesday afternoon as a precaution to allow controlled burns intended to solidify containment lines, said John Ahman, a spokesman for the agency. Among the spots evacuated, he said, were the Esalen Institute and the Immaculate Heart Hermitage.

California Highway 1 now is closed from Limekiln State Park to Andrew Molera State Park. Maia Carroll of the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services said the area under the new evacuation area is thought to have about 850 people living in it. "We know a lot of people have remained behind -- that's just the way they live," she said. "But we're worried for them."

Also in the Big Sur area, containment lines were being laid down to hem in the Basin Complex fire, which has proved to be the most destructive of the more than 1,400 lightning-sparked fires that have racked the northern part of the state since June 21.

Of the 31 homes destroyed statewide in the blazes, most were nestled on the panoramic hillsides rising from the Big Sur coast.

In recent days, weather helped firefighters in Big Sur to control the blaze, which has charred nearly 50,000 acres. Fog is expected through the week, and winds from the north continued to push the blaze back on itself, slowing its march toward the region's most populated areas.

"I would say we're cautiously optimistic with the current conditions," Ahman said. "With the marine layer and light winds, we haven't had any huge runs by the fire."

But those same winds could turn problematic in coming days. The breezes are expected to pick up through Thursday, with gusts blowing from the north at up to 20 mph, potentially whipping up the blaze anew.

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