CLose
We were allowed back onto my brother’s street this morning (Sunday). The fire burned to my brother’s fence in the back yard, which backs up to a mostly wild and grassy hillside that rises above. It looks like it was more of a small ‘spot fire’ caused by flying embers, while the ‘main’ front of the fire was stopped about 50-100 feet above at a small road. Definitely too close for comfort.
Jesusita fire: Thursday Night
If Wednesday night was bad, tonight is a thousand times worse. As I type this just after midnight ash is raining all across the city as if a volcano had exploded. The foothills above town are completely ablaze with flames going nearly all the way to the mountain ridge at the top. The temperature is still 80˚ (26 c) and winds gusts up to 40mph. Huge sections of the city are now under evacuation and the fire is moving so fast. I crossed highway 154 just prior to its closing, and an hour later, the fire had already crossed it to the west and towards Goleta. Homes are burning. Simply awful out there; devastating.
Jesusita Fire pics: Wednesday afternoon
Here’s a few more pics of the Jesusita fire from Wednesday afternoon while still at my brother’s house. We had been evacauated on Tuesday afternoon, but managed to get back in on Wednesday to try and keep an eye on things. By late afternoon, the fire was getting perilously close and most of the neighborhood had cleared out. From or estimates looking at aerial photos and from driving around today, we estimate the fire got within about 200 meters. The only traffic was from fire crews driving down Foothill road and police driving through the neighborhoods telling people to leave immediately. The Mandatory evacuation zone had been moved down to State street, so we were well behind the lines. The Temperature was somewhere near 100 degrees (37 C), as the “sundowner winds” were constantly changing directions, but mostly keeping the smoke just to the east of our location. At times the sky was as black as night.
First few photos are with a 14mm lens. It was that close…
First pic: Looking east.
Corner of Foothill and Calle Laureles, looking towards Mission Canyon
Fire crews driving east along Foothill towards Mission Canyon
Schwarzenegger comes to Santa Barbara
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (I think everyone knows who he is) came to Santa Barbara this morning to give a press conference in regards to the Jesusita fire, which he declared a “state of emergency” on Wednesday evening. The press conference was held at Earl Warren showgrounds, which is currently one of the main staging areas for firefighters who have come to the area to assist is the effort.
Nightmare
For some perspective, the mountains on the left of the 1st photo are about 4000 ft. high. It is absolutely devastating out there right now.
Apocalypse Santa Barbara
The fire took a major turn for the worse this afternoon. I could see houses burning as I was driving away from my brother’s house, which is now perilously close to the western line of the fire. The entire city is completely covered in smoke. Large sections of town have now been evacuated. Looks like a war zone.
This afternoon, before we decided it would be best to get out of there.
Good luck out there everyone…
Jesusita Fire: Wednesday
Things look a lot better this morning. Lots of helicopters flying around and a big fire-retardant dropping plane is also on the scene. A couple of the helicopter crews are using a field at one of the local schools to fill up with water via a hose and fire hydrant.
Jesusita Fire Update: 10:30pm
Been a busy afternoon. My brother’s house and neighborhood was put on mandatory evacuation around 4:30 this afternoon, so we were kept busy getting everything loaded into trucks and vans to move to a safer place. There is a small reservoir over the hill from his house where the fire fighting helicopters have been picking up water all afternoon, often circling low over his house. Still at 10:30 at night, 5-6 helicopters are still flying around in the sky. After it got dark I went to a view point a couple miles west and the wind was blasting and I could see huge flare ups in the fire every few minutes. Luckily the winds aren’t as bad as they could be though. Going to be a long night for a lot of people.
first photo: view from the Santa Barbara Courthouse around 4:30 this afternoon.
Jesusita Fire Santa Barbara
Seems all to early in the year for this to be happening already! A bit before 2pm fire was reported in the foothills above Santa Barbara in the Jeusita area, no roads but several hiking trails pass through the area.
Current temp is about 83˚ F (28˚ C) with winds about 20-25 mph (30-40 kmh).
2:15 pm
3:40 pm
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