Santa Barbara-area brush fire burns into the night
November 13, 2008 | 8:51
pm
Thanks to Carpinteria resident Anthony Lombardi for sharing these photos of the brush fire burning tonight in the hills above Montecito and Santa Barbara.
The fire was reported at 5:45 p.m. on Mountain Road, a Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman said. It had burned nearly five acres by about 6:30 p.m. and some residents in the area were ordered to evacuate.
The wind is blowing and gusts to 50 mph are in the forecast later tonight.
Hopefully those stronger winds will not develop and crews will get a handle on this blaze before it further endangers life and property.
Hopefully, too, we'll get our rainy season soon, because the fire season has dragged on far too long.
—Pete Thomas
Photos: Anthony Lombardi
Ann Arbor, MI blogger Ed Vielmetti is tracking online reports of the fire and posting them on his blog http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2008/11/santa-barbara-and-montecito-t-fire.html and on twitter http://www.twitter/viemetti
Posted by: Nancy White | November 13, 2008 at 09:15 PM
Whats going on with Westmont College, many of us students are concerned if our campus is still there!!
Posted by: natalie johnston | November 13, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Natalie,
You might try checking http://www.montecitofire.com. It lists the latest evacuation areas and might help. Good luck!
Posted by: Pete Thomas | November 13, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Some pics, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/obgynluke/
while i was watching the fire, it looked pretty engulfing...embers were burning over my head...pretty intense.
Posted by: Luke | November 13, 2008 at 10:40 PM
hey natalie! it's aley! the campus has a lot of spot fires, and i've heard that some of the buildings are on fire, but i'm not certain. The students are still enclosed in the gym but they just put on a movie. No one is allowed to go outside, doors are still taped shut.
Posted by: alyssa nishihira | November 13, 2008 at 10:57 PM
The best local news, reports and images streaming at Edhat:
http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=1394
Posted by: Kevin Steele | November 13, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Hey,
I talked to my sister who is currently in the gym and she said that 3 of the Clark Hall buildings have been burned, the Math and Physics and the beautiful small chapel have been burned as well (but I'm not sure as to what degree). Also, many cars have caught on fire and some have exploded. They are safe though and will be spending the night in the gym.
Posted by: Morgan | November 13, 2008 at 11:14 PM
What is going on with UCSB?
Posted by: Aris | November 13, 2008 at 11:41 PM
It's not really that close to UCSB.
Posted by: Cass | November 14, 2008 at 12:01 AM
nothing at the moment. Fire not threatening the campus. All students in IV and on campus residence safe ATM
Posted by: marcus | November 14, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Those photos are spectacular. Beautiful and menacing. We have a primal fear and attraction to fire. I used to live in Agoura Hills. One year the fire swept out from the hills and into our backyard. Thankfully our house was spared, but it was an amazing (if also terrifying) experience.
Posted by: Jon K. | November 14, 2008 at 03:01 PM
Reports tell us that there are over 4000 paid firemen at site. Specificly, what are they doing besides being there? Is they can't put out fires and are only watching the burn, why have them there at horrendous expence??
Posted by: Richard Kelly | May 13, 2009 at 09:13 AM