Six Santa Maria-based fire tankers resumed work the morning of May 28 to battle a blaze that broke out on Memorial Day off of Paradise Road in the Santa Ynez Valley, spread east into the backcountry, and grew to almost 2,000 acres in less than 24 hours.
The tankers were grounded the afternoon of May 27 because of high winds. Fire tankers dropped retardant, and helicopters dropped water to stifle the fire while winds were calm and fire activity was minimal during the morning hours of May 28.
Andrew Madsen from Los Padres National Forest said the National Weather Service predicted the winds would pick back up in the afternoon, so they were making headway where they could and had it about 10 percent contained.
“If the fire gets any wind on it, it’s likely to grow,” Madsen said.
Madsen also said the Forest Service evacuated about 1,000 campers from their campsites. News reports say authorities evacuated 4,000 to 6,000 people from the Santa Ynez Valley.
This is the first big fire of the season in Southern Santa Barbara County. Madsen said a fire broke out earlier this year in the Rock Ranch area, burning around 100 acres, because someone was shooting at explosive targets.
Almost 600 personnel from the U.S. Forest Service, Santa Barbara County and city, Carpinteria/Summerland Fire, Montecito, Lompoc, and Santa Maria City Fire, Chumash Fire, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, and several volunteer fire departments are assigned to the blaze.
Flames burned through the Sage Hill Campground, but the damage level there was unknown as of press time. Madsen said the origin of the fire is also unknown.
Los Padres National Forest went to level three fire restrictions on May 17 because of dry vegetation and an increasing fire risk. Those restrictions prohibit recreational target shooting, hunting, and smoking or wood/charcoal fires except in a designated campsite.
Madsen said they issued a warning the Friday before Memorial Day to ensure campers and forest-users got the message.
“The conditions that we see today are what we would normally see in August,” Madsen said. “If you’re going to be out and have a fire, you need to be extremely cautious.”
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 6, 2013.