Another huge fire in Santa Barbara area

[martha24]

The Jesusita Fire is the third major fire within a year.

We are fine. Thursday night we were classified as a warning area for evacuating as the fire got totally out of control on the west flank coming toward Goleta. This fire is far from out, but right now is more in the back country. A one point the fire was 5 miles long and it has now burnt an area 8 miles long with Goleta on one end and Montecito on the other with Santa Barabara city inbetween. So far it has burnt about 100 homes and 8,700 acres. More than 12,00 homes were under mandatory evacuation with another 12,000 under warning of evacuation. Thank goodness last night the sun downer winds didn't materialize like expected which made a huge difference in helping the fire burn away from the populated areas. The next few days the weather is supposed to be good as well which will help the firefighters get the fire under control. The fire is now 30% contained. The two previous nights the winds caused a lot of problems pushing the fire into populated areas. Thursday night they caused the fire to explode to the west toward me. My elderly parents evacuated to my house and were allowed today to go home.

This fire has now pretty much burned all the area between the Gap Fire and the Tea Fire in the hills behind the populated areas. The main homes that got burnt were the ones way up in the canyons. The firefighters did a great job in defending homes. Plus there are now helicopters that fly at night the drop water which is a tremendous help in putting out hot spots.

map of burn area
http://countyofsb.org/uploadedImages/ceo/oes/EvacAreasWeb_050809_8x11_1200_pm.jpg

I certainly hope this is the last of major fires around here for a long while.

[Esteban]

Martha, I was reading blogs about the fire in your area. The devastation is horrible and almost unimaginable. Was thinking of you and yours wondering how you are doing. Good to learn you are (relatively) safe. Read that coastal fog is expected to help the fire fighters contain the fire. My thoughts are with you.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

I hope Gordon's home is OK... I think he's still teardropping somewhere up in Montana. Saw him at the Rustic Run and The Dam.

[martha24]

I'm sure Gordon's home should be fine. I don't know exactly where he lives, but it isn't too far from where we live. No homes in the Goleta area got burned. The fire jumped the Hwy 154 in a few places and I don't know if any homes got burned around there or not, but that would be the closest to Goleta.
It was amazing with how devastating the fire was and that not more homes were burned.

The latest information:
40% contained, with 8,733 acres burned.
31 homes destroyed & 47 homes damaged. Most of these homes were burned on Wed. night. Thursday night more than doubled the area burned, but only about 5 homes were burned. The firefighters did a terrific job of saving many homes in the canyon areas. Since the fire started on Tuesday afternoon and the worst nights were on Wednesday & Thursday, there was time to get many firefighter & equipment into the area. The latest fact sheet says there are 4,321 personal, 498 engines, 104 crews, 11 air tankers, 13 helicopters fighting the fire.
Most area residents can go home today with 3 canyon areas that are still closed (where most of the burned homes must be) and parts of HWY 154 are still closed being used for emergency vehicles.

P.S. I was glad we had the teardrop as that became our bed, as my parents needed to be able to use our bedroom.

[Miriam C.]

We're praying for you Martha. Fire is the worst type of storm. You can't hang on and hope for the best.

btw---when's the wedding? Did we miss it?

[caseydog]

I hope you escape this one, too.

I've been watching the fire on the internet daily. I have a question. It seems that the houses are catching fire before the fire actually gets to them -- at least the ones they can get video of. I assume it is hot embers falling on roofs.

My question is, what are roofs covered with in those parts?

We used to have a huge problem in Texas with wind turning one house fire into six because most roofs in the affluent suburban neighborhoods had wood shingle roofs. Then Texas outlawed wood shingles in new construction, and if you buy a house with wood shingles, you can't get insurance unless you replace the roofing. As a result, wood shingle roofs here are almost all gone, and we haven't had one of those chain fires in about a decade, that I know of.

I would think that in wildfire country, roof in Cali would have to be something that is fire resistant. But I have no idea.

Anyway, I was just curious as to why I'm seeing homes catch fire before the fire gets there, and whether roof materials are the reason.

Good luck. I hope you don't have to evacuate.

[martha24]

Miriam, no you haven't missed the wedding. It is July 18th and I'm still working on the dress. During the Tea fire I had to pack up all the patterns and the muslin. This time I got all the fabric together with the muslin just in case I had to evacuate. Anymore the worst is over with the fire. Today was more typical weather with overcast & marine layer. Good for fire fighting. Our son who is just home from South Dakota was saying that at least with major snow storms & blizzards you don't have to evacuate.

Caseydog,
I won't have anything to worry about any more for the fire I'm sure. Only Thursday night when it jumped HWY 154 did it cause some concern because the winds were so fierce. It is now back of HWY 154 again, in the back country.
The roofs in CA can't be wood shingle anymore, especially in fire areas. I would think those would need to be pretty fire proof for insurance reasons. Once in a while an older house will be seen with one, but most insurance companies won't insure them.

It is the embers that causes part the problems, with the right winds they can fly a mile beyond the fire causing a new fire. In canyons there tends to be brush which catches fire easily. Also with homes things that cause problems are anything around the home that can catch fire easily like plastic patio furniture, awnings, patio umbrellas, wood piles, trees too close to the house or anything that can burn. Barbecues with propane tanks will explode. The fire department wants what they call a defensible space, an area around the house where nothing is flammable. It sounded like a good many people had done this. In some cases I heard where the firefighters were chopping down trees too close to houses to protect them. If the fire department don't have enough man power they will defend the house with the defensible space over one that doesn't. Also make sure the house is as closed up as possible as any air flow will pull the fire in as well. It was also a big help that they could continue to dump water on in during the night.
When the main fire comes roaring through there is nothing that can stop it burning everything in its path that is burnable. It would take a very specially engineered home not to burn in that situation.

From a wild fire in 1990 that burned a friends house, the only thing that they could find that was recognizable out of the whole house was one wine bottle that was a distorted mass of glass. Everything else was burnt to nothing. That was a fire that traveled a distance of 5 miles in less than four hours and burnt to within 2 miles of the beach, jumped over a 6 lane freeway and a few other major streets. The only reason it stopped, is the wind stopped. Basically impossible to do much against such a fire, other than get out of the way.

I would think especially in the canyons more houses will be build with no flammable materials on the outside and ways to seal up all vents so there is no airflow from the outside to the inside. Then it would be more likely that the fire could pass without burning the house down.

[caseydog]

Thanks Martha. I did some more reading, and it seems that this fire, people did mostly have decent defensible space. I understand that firefighters are more willing to fight to protect homes with proper defensible space.

It looks like homes with good attic ventilation are also more likely to burn. I guess there are ways to close off such pathways for fire, and some homes have it, and others don't.

Apparently some homes have sprinkler systems for their roofs, too.

I imagine that, since these fires only hit one area every 20 years or so, people can get lulled lowering their guard. That's how Hurricanes are on the Gulf coast of Texas. After a while, people can forget to take precautions.

CD

[martha24]

Caseydog,
I thought you might be interested.
I talking to my niece that lives up on HWY 154 in the "fire area", the insurance requires a good distance, like 20 feet, on each side of the house cleared creating a defensible space. If she didn't make it up to their standards, the home insurance would be $4,000 extra.
If for no other reason, the really expensive insurance would make people have defensible spaces.

The fire is now at least 80% contained and last count about 80 houses destroyed and 20 damaged.

[S. Heisley]

Please note that the CA state law for defensible space changed last July. Homes must now have 100 feet of defensible space around them.

People think that, if the area around their home has the mandatory defensible space, that's all they have to do; but that's not so. It should be noted that, if you haven't cleared the dry weeds from your land next to your neighbor's home and it catches fire because of your negligence, you could be held liable for their damages. In some areas of California, the communities now do the clearing for you, if you haven't done it by the obligatory date. But, they fine you and charge a hefty clearance fee.

In a fire talk given last summer, it was stated that fire crews investigate areas ahead of time each year. They map out caution areas where their units might get "trapped" and, if faced with a large fire, which areas are going to be easily defended and which homes can be most likely saved…kind of like triage planning. They not only look for cleared, defensible space but also for easy access and turn-around areas for their fire equipment. They asked that, if you are told to evacuate, please leave hoses hooked up to the outside spigots and leave your doors unlocked. This allows them to defend your home better and could actually save a fireman’s life.

During a demonstration, the firemen set fire to various deck materials. It was interesting to note that the manufactured deck boards burned and smoldered almost to ashes and that fire was very difficult to put out. The redwood deck boards were only scorched around the edges and the fire was easily extinguished. I would have thought it would be the other way around….Who knew!?!

[caseydog]

Caseydog,
I thought you might be interested.
I talking to my niece that lives up on HWY 154 in the "fire area", the insurance requires a good distance, like 20 feet, on each side of the house cleared creating a defensible space. If she didn't make it up to their standards, the home insurance would be $4,000 extra.
If for no other reason, the really expensive insurance would make people have defensible spaces.

The fire is now at least 80% contained and last count about 80 houses destroyed and 20 damaged.

I still remember the straw that broke the camel's back in Texas. This fire triggered new legislation, which got tougher and tougher as time went on, until wood shingle roofs were not allowed to be used in any new construction.

1979 - Woodway Square Apartment Fire

Wood shingle roofs and wood frame construction contributed to a number of serious apartment fires over the years, but none were more devastating than the one on July 31, 1979. A prime candidate for fire, Woodway Square was a 1,086-unit complex covering 55 acres with its 105 closely spaced buildings.

The first alarm was transmitted at 2:50 p.m. for a fire in one of the two-story apartment houses. In less than 25 minutes, sparks set 10 more buildings on fire. Before the conflagration was controlled four hours later, an unprecendented seventh alarm was pulled. The fire destroyed the equivalent of 10 city blocks, levelling 324 apartments and damaging 100 others. The complex owners incurred losses of $34 million. Fortunately, no one died.

Woodway Square was declared a federal disaster area and victims were given low-cost loans to cover $10 million in uninsured losses. The day after the fire, the Houston City Council passed an ordinance restricting wood shingles in multiple dwellings.

[S. Heisley]

I understand there are treated fire-resistant wood shingles that are okay to use; but, I wouldn't trust 'em with my (or a loved one's) life.

[martha24]

Sharon,
Undoubtedly you are right on the 100 feet, I didn't really remember the size of the defensible space that my niece mentioned, only that it seemed a fairly good size area. The main thing I remember was the $4,000 excess charge if the insurance company didn't find the defensible space good enough.
I think those kinds of charges would make most people compliant.

It is also true down here in some areas the county will warn the residents to clear weeds and such and if they don't will come in and clear. The residents will then be fined & charged a goodly amount.

For most people, I would think, high fees would be enough to make them clear flammable weeds & brush.

I'm hoping we've seen the last of these big fires for awhile. I don't think 3 in 10 months has ever happened before. The usual is probably closer to every 20 years.

[S. Heisley]

Martha:

I hope you're right about the no more fires for a while! It's only spring and you've already had another big fire in your area...glad you're okay. I'm concerned about what this summer will bring as I suspect we haven't seen the last of the forest fires. Undoubtedly, we'll find out.

[doug hodder]

Martha...hoping all is well with everyone down there...What IRKs me is that the "governator" uses this as a political point to push the upcoming election amendments, IE TV ads. Sorry, but that is really low brow scare tactics in my opinion. It has been done before, and continues to be done...."vote for this amendment or we will have to cut fire fighting/ EMT dollars" while someones house burns, pictures regularly shown on TV. No mention on what happened to the dollars on the last election when this same agenda was pushed and approved however! I'm not out of the loop. I've had helicopters turn over the house and dump water on me as well.

I just have a problem when they beat this drum in a crisis for political gain! Jack your taxes...no way of knowing where it goes! Sorry, I have a hard time getting behind this stuff when they blow so much money on stupid things or stupid people! Meanwhile...my water $$ go up and it goes down to So. Cal to keep golf courses green or the local municipalities dump it on the landscaping along the roads, runnning down the gutter late at night....the real killer for me is when they came into the store and told me I needed to put in a lower flow toilet, while the landscaping was running full time all day, the lawn on the center was like walking on a water bed!....Oh yeah....I'm sure I'm going to change that! Doug