Jesusita Fire, Day 2 - Santa Barbara, CA

Damn. Here we go all over again. This is the THIRD MAJOR fire in less than a year and the FOURTH in less than two years: Zaca, Gap, Tea and now Jesusita. Starting on the Fourth of July 2007, the Zaca Fire burned completely in the 'back country' consuming only one small shed and hurting no one. It became the second-largest wildfire in recorded California history. The Gap Fire above Goleta started a year later and caused many evacuations, yet in burning more than 10,000 acres did not burn any structures. In early November, 2008, the Tea Fire in Montecito erupted suddenly with 90mph 'sundowner' winds and burned over 200 homes and severely burned two people trying to flee from their home.

This photo was taken only 20 seconds after the photo above. Note how FAST this fire was growing - especially the smaller plume on the right. These two photos were taken from the east of the fire, creating backlit smoke that became almost mahogany in color.

Forty minutes later at about 4:40pm, I took the above photos and the ones following - from the western side of the fire - near the Public Library in Goleta, actually from the house & overlook within the organic farm, "Fairview Gardens". At a distance of about eight miles, those flames must be more than 50' high.

This and the following photo were taken 20 seconds apart.... also showing how fast the fire was still burning.

As I write about 9pm, reports state that over 20 homes have burned, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has sustained damage, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History was threatened. Staff were busily placing the most valuable specimens in their fireproof vaults. Over 12,000 'reverse 9-1-1' calls had been made for mandatory evacuations, all the way to State Street, Santa Barbara's "Main Street".

Here at El Cap State Beach, about 20 miles west of the fire, the winds are still gusting, although not nearly as dangerous as those of the mid-late afternoon.

One of the very best local sources of news - especially breaking news is NOT the daily SB News Press (i.e. News Suppress), but the weekly 'Independent'

More photos with details on my Flickr site - you can connect to the Jesusita Fire set with this link.