Santa Barbara fire: 70% containment

The Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara is now 70% contained, up from 65% Sunday night, officials said this morning.

Aided by foggy, humid weather, the size of the fire remains unchanged at 8,700 acres and no more homes have been destroyed other than the 70 structures already reported. The price tag for fighting the fire, which started last Tuesday, is up to $10.8 million.

Today, firefighters will monitor the blaze along its northern edge near the rugged Santa Ynez mountains. Fire officials expect sundowner winds this evening, which could cause some hot spots to flare up.

“We’re going to have lookouts everywhere," said Lee Bentley, a spokesman for the interagency team fighting the fire.

"We’re going to use all the resources we can to make sure this fire doesn’t get out of hand again.”

Forecasters expect winds up to 12 mph today with gusts up to 35 mph. Last week's winds climbed to 45 mph.
 
“Our message is: Don’t get complacent, even now that it looks like it’s almost over,” Bentley said.

-- Tony Barboza

Comments

[gman]

I watched the first puffs of smoke arise from this fire while at the SB marina. It seems to me that the explosive nature of the chaparral vegetation along the SoCal coast requires a MASSIVE initial supression response to keep them from spreadiing like, well. . ., wildfire. Yes, it would be expensive for this kind of standby equipment, but $10 million for supression, so far, is not a small sum either.

And the impacts of the fire go far beyond the homes lost, and stress & inconvenience of evacuation. The SB City College was forced to cancel classes and close the campus just as students are preparing to finish term papers and prepare for final exams. The mudslides of next winter are sure to be another cost of the Jesusita Fire.

I understand the chaparral ecology naturally needs to burn, but Summer fires like this one (and the Day Fire last year) can burn endlessly, until the weather puts and end to them.