[Update: June 6, 2022, afternoon] The Bridge Fire is 100 percent contained, according to Santa Barbara Count fire spokesperson Mike Eliason. “Crews continue to root out stubborn hot spot in the interior areas of dense vegetation,” he said, adding “The cause is actively under investigation.”
[Update: June 6, 2022, morning] The evacuation warnings for the Bridge Fire were lifted at midnight on Monday, June 6. The fire has burned around eight acres, and no injuries or damage to structures has been reported, according to Santa Barbara County fire spokesperson Mike Eliason. The fire has been “deemed suspicious,” he said, though the cause remains under investigation. Rumors that the blaze started as a couch fire have not been substantiated.
[Update: June 5, 2022, 9 p.m.] The evacuation order was downgraded to a warning at about 9 p.m. This affects Cieneguitas Road and Calle Caridad north of Foothill Road and west of Winther Way.
About a half hour earlier, County Fire spokesperson Mike Eliason reported the incident commanders are calling the fire progress at a halt. Firefighters remain on scene and continue to hunt down and extinguish embers.
[Original Story] A wildfire broke out near Cathedral Oaks and State Route 154 at around 6:53 p.m. on Sunday evening, Santa Barbara County Fire spokesperson Mike Eliason reported. An evacuation order has been called for the neighborhoods along Cieneguitas Road and Calle Caridad just south of the fire.
Firefighters and dozer crews are on scene near Via Gaitero, which is the road that runs up to the San Marcos Foothills Preserve. The new Firehawk helicopter is dropping water on what has been dubbed the Bridge Fire, making multiple passes with water from Lauro Reservoir as the smoke spreads into town and across the foothills. Fixed-wing aircraft are dropping retardant, and engine companies are involved in structure protection at homes with well-maintained defensible space.
Eliason estimated the fire at a half acre in the earliest reports on Twitter, updated it to four acres per the air crews, and noted that it has the potential to spread to 10 acres. High winds are pushing the fire and are blowing out of the northwest across the foothills; the gauge at San Marcos Pass generally registered winds in the 20s but gusts up to 43 and 49 mph this past hour.
This report will be updated as information becomes available.