Jesusita Fire Turned Away from Trout Club

Ray: What are the chances that the fire on the Goleta front can jump over Camino Cielo, and what is currently in place to prevent that?

It appears that this 'tongue' of the Jesusita fire that stretched west towards the Gap fire fuel break created a missing link for future fire protection for us in Goleta.
Hey ~ just looking at things from the bright side.

I have no idea how Ray finds the resources, access, and energy to file these reports but I am very grateful for them. I will never forget an adventure I went on that was led by Ray about 15 years ago. He's now leading thousands of us on a serious and important adventure as stands near the fiery mouth of the big, scary dragon. Thanks Ray and thank you Indy!

Don Lubach

First thing: Thank you to all supporting the community in this emergency. Secondly, as a native Californian I'm grateful for any defenses used against fire threats to California communities (whatever the financial cost)...but there's always various "costs"  to consider...I was wondering if there's a limit to how much fire retardant can be dropped in Jesusita's proximity to the creeks & ocean? I read that it can be toxic to fish...in what amounts and how long until it wears off?source: http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/Projects.aspx?P...

Fire, fire rising higher...
Reaching for the mountain crest.
Ever, ever flames are climbing...
Until no more brush is left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(written by GoletaResident, today)

There is some toxic affect from Silv-Ex and Phos Chek G75-F, but I tend to think it is essential in this case for us to get the fire out, and as fast as possible. Such massive firestorms can denude the entire watershed and fill what streams there are with mud and totaly destroy aquatic habitat far more.

Many thanks, Ray, for your fine reporting on this fire. Your extensive knowledge of, and love for, the back country of Santa Barbara has given those of us who are far away the kind of details and accurate information sadly lacking in much of the other fire coverage. As someone who grew up in SB and hiked extensively throughout the areas burned, I appreciate your stellar coverage and fine photos even as I agonize for the people and critters fleeing the flames. My heart is with you, Santa Barbara, and mahalo to Ray and the Indie for keeping us so well informed.

Once again a heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Indy for the coverage. The County should step up next time we have a fire event (which hopefully won't happen), instead of depending on our media sources to get out the info. The County kiosks were pathetic, as was their Web site.

Ray, and all the Indy reporters, you are priceless to the community! Thanks to the hard work of our firefighters!!

Lets hope that Painted Cave and the homes on the Pass are safe. Take good care, everyone!!

Re the first comment asking about the fire burning over the top of the Santa Ynez mountains: The chances are very low because 1) there is a fair firebreak up their to backfire from, 2) there are lots of brush engine and hand crews on hand to jump on most spot fires that might start, 3) there's little other fire in socal so we have good air support to knock down a slop-over , 4) fire weather is forecast to be pretty good the next few days, 5) any slop-over would be burning down hill in vegetation with higher moisture content and lower solar heating because of the northern exposure. But never count mother nature out when she's only down.

Talking about the bright side......While no wild fire is a good one to those who lose homes, cars, animals, or otherwise suffer, looking at this fire from a community perspective, it is a good fire. { I wouldn't say that if the state/county/city/voters would support and implement proscribed burning after the rains when intentionally set fires will burn controllably. } While last year's Gap fire (no homes lost) shows old fuels can have slow enough fires we can suppress without lost of property, the most likely outcome for the fuel between the Gap and Tea fires (which hasn't burned since 1990 or 1964), is something like last year's Tea Fire (200 homes lost in the first 4 hours), the 1990 Paint fire (600 homes lost in the first 3 hours), or the circa 1977 Sycamore fire (350? homes in 4 hours). This is because: a) Santa Barbara and Noleta have many more homes in the foothills than Goleta, b) many of Goleta's most vulnerable homes are protected by large orchards or range lands. Furthermore: c) historically most of the burned acreage occurs during the large fires, and d) statistically the large fires are so because they started and spread during worse fire weather than the Gap or Jesusita Fires had (much worse sundowner winds -- hotter, faster, lasting longer, and directed more into the city), and e) with lower fuel moisture than the Jesusita Fire. Last point -- The Jesusita fire didn't have to compete with any other major fires so we received all the crews we could use. In summary, the odds are great that if this fire wasn't happening now, some or all of this acreage would of fed one or more fires that would of raged into the city and suburbs, burning more than a 1000 homes. That's no consolation to those who experienced loss now (My sincere condolences.), but it is to the rest of us who now have much lower risk for the next ten years.