Jesusita Fire

As many of you know, the Jesusita Fire started on May 5th around 1:45 PM in Santa Barbara. It has been a harrowing few days. At the height of the fire, upwards of 50,000 people were either under mandatory evacuation (30,500) or were in an evacuation warning area (29,000). The warning area stretched all the way to Fairview in Goleta which is close to our house to Hot Springs Road in Montecito. That covers pretty much all of Santa Barbara.






An incredible view of the foothill on fire with the city in the foreground. You can tell just how low into Mission Canyon and other canyons it came to downtown Santa Barbara:



The sundowner winds whipped up Wednesday and especially Thursday evenings pushing the fire laterally across the SB foothills. It jumped Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass), moving west, fueled by winds in excess of 60 mph and temperatures in excess of 100 degrees (at night).

Tom and I walked down our driveway and up Cathedral Oaks Thursday night. It was so, so scary. We could see a WALL of fire in the mountains and extending down to the flatter areas.
It was incredible. It was hot. Ashy. Smoky. And very, very windy. We knew the fire was moving rapidly both west (towards us) and east. Let's just say that I did not sleep well that night and kept all phones near us and on in case we received a reverse 911 call telling us to evacuate.

The conditions the firefighters had to deal with were horrible and quite likely the worst possible conditions in which to fight a wildfire.



The fire chief stated that this fire was the worst emergency that SB County has had to deal with in over a "quarter century." It required more resources, personnel, tools etc., than any other emergency.



A stark juxtaposition: A surfer walking along Butterfly Beach in Montecito, palm trees in the distance as well as the growing smoke cloud which covered the sun.



An AP shot of Dan David who is an attorney in my office - his home was very, very near the fire. Apparently, the two large trees bracketing his home totally burned. The firefighters saved his home by literally standing in his driveway/front door with hoses. He is one of the lucky ones.




It was what I'd imagine being in a war-zone is like in terms of the air power. We had "fixed-wing" air craft as show in the below photo flying, we had helicopters flying dropping water. There were also numerous media helicopters. We had the DC-10 come in and drop 12,000 pounds of fire retardant on the ridge tops. I have to say, watching that aircraft maneuver along the hilltops was an incredible site.

These are still making drops today - even though the fire is much more contained.



A helicopter doing a water drop over a home with the fire in the background.



Another shot of the hills on fire and the city in the foreground:



A very eerie, surreal view of the SB Mission. Wednesday afternoon, the winds really picked up and the sky became this orange color.






We are incredibly fortunate. Many others lost their homes or had homes who were heavily damaged.

We did pack up a bag and got together a few piles of irreplaceable items. Cyanne would be happy to know that I did grab her baby book. It's stuffed with mementos and not yet even technically begun but it's all there.... She certainly wouldn't care now - we'd have had to grabbed her puppy and blanket as most important objects for her - but she'd care later on if we lost her book.

Here are some shots of the incredible, amazing firefighters. I cannot even begin to comprehend the environment in which they work. They battle fire each day. And after watching this one, and the other 3 we've had since we moved back here, I now regard fire as a very dangerous creature. It moves and builds and grows and strikes. It licks up a ridge and runs down the other side. It is an animal, a beast with immense power and a total mind of its own. I would not like it as my adversary and therefore, my respect for firefighters grows more and more the more I begin to understand just how dangerous fire really is.



The wind was whipping so strongly - you can see the embers flying all around. These embers created many "hot spots" or "spot fires" and ended up burning homes further down the canyons, away from the main wall of fire.



Here's a view of the 101 freeway at the Fairview exit. The traffic is heading south. You can see just how large the fire was becoming at this point. The cloud is basically covering all of Santa Barbara.



A seemingly more and more frequent California scene: Fire and palm trees.



A team of firefighters navigating down a steep, burned-out canyon. It looks like a charred moonscape.



This made me smile... The firefighters apparently stopped to feed some friendly, brave bluejays in the Goleta area.



The remains of a burned home.



Again, we are very, very thankful and glad we, our pets, and our house are okay. We're very sad to hear about some friends or friends of friends who have lost their homes. Our hearts go out to them.

Fires were not this common when I was growing up here. I only remember one fire - the Painted Cave fire in 1990 (which burned in excess of 500 homes and traveled from the mountains to the ocean in under 30 minutes fueled by sundowner winds).

I hope we have a period free of fires.
I am no fan of fire.

Jesusita Fire Fact Sheet as of May 11, 2009 at 0800 (8:00 A.M.)

Fire Status:

8,733 acres burned
70% contained
Damage assessment teams have been working in the field providing more accurate survey numbers. Assessment to date: 77 homes destroyed, 22 homes damaged; 60 outbuildings destroyed and 69 outbuildings damaged.
Approximately 145 properties evacuated (mandatory evacuation orders); affects approx. 362 people currently.
Residences threatened - 500; commercial properties threatened - 0
4,104 personnel on scene: 403 engines, 110 crews
5 air tankers including the DC10, and 10 helicopters
28 firefighter injuries to date.
Cause under investigation: Tip line - 805-686-5074
Air quality warning remains in effect.
Estimated costs to date $10.8 million.
Expected containment 5/13/09.

(Note: None of these photos are mine. They are complied from various sources: AP, Getty images, Independent, FB etc. These photographers did a phenomenal job of capturing the fire and its impact on Santa Barbara.)