Santa Barbara Supervisors Get Positive Progress Report on Lake Fire
Most Evacuated Residents Allowed to Return Home; Fire Crews Deployed Back to Home Stations, to Other Fires, or onto North Side of the Lake Fire
Santa Barbara County Fire hand crews worked tirelessly to dig and rebuild control lines on the back of Figueroa Mountain. | Credit: Scott Safechuck via X
[Update: Wed., July 17, 2024] The Lake Fire is 42 percent contained and has burned 38,663 acres as of Wednesday morning; 3,247 personnel remain assigned to the fire. According to County Fire spokesperson Scott Safechuck, “The fire held to control lines with no further growth anticipated.”
[Original Story] While Santa Barbara County is in an officially declared state of emergency due to the Lake Fire, Supervisor Laura Capps noted during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting the national crisis that arose on Saturday. The attempted shooting of presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday was a “dark moment,” she said. Before the usual Pledge of Allegiance, Capps announced, “The affirmation that we display every week in Santa Barbara County is a commitment to our democracy, one that is peaceful, respectful, civil, and constructive.” She expressed gratitude to the “hundreds of thousands” who took part in government, “upholding our tenets and our values of democracy.” With that — the room full of purple-T-shirted union members and county employees there to report on the Lake Fire — everyone stood and recited the pledge.
Next was the Lake Fire, about which the news was positive: The south side closest to the Santa Ynez Valley was mostly a cold, black fire line. Mop-up and clean-up operations were ongoing on the southern side, including at the Sedgwick Reserve. Oaks and gray pines had burned, spokesperson Nikki Evans wrote in a press release, and they expected the larger trees and their seeds to regenerate, though it would take time.
Overall, the fire was 38 percent contained as of Tuesday morning, having swept across 38,653 total acres, with a prospective date of July 31 for the fire to be totally cold. Fire crews were deploying back to their home stations across California, to other fires, or onto the north side of the Lake Fire, mostly in the federal Los Padres National Forest. There, the terrain is very remote and very steep, said Garrett Huff, a division chief with County Fire, adding that it would be getting warmer and drier in the coming days.
Kelly Hubbard, the county’s emergency manager, said the interactive evacuation map remained the best source for the clear and off-limits areas; evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted for as much of the southern zone as was safe from fire. During the back-and-forth at the dais, Hubbard noted that all county departments with mapping expertise in GIS (geographic information systems) showed up to help during the fire — Assessor, Sheriff, Planning and Development, Public Works, General Services — and that people from the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, as well as First 5, Public Health, Social Services, and Red Cross, pitched in over the Fourth of July weekend to answer phones.
Hubbard also asked businesses, farms, ranches, and individuals to fill out damage forms so that the county could begin to request assistance — funds, grants, and loans — from federal and state sources. “We need the information to make the justification,” she said. “If people fill these out, get the information to us, we’ll be able to advocate on their behalf.” The forms can be found at ReadySBC.org.
As residents returned to their homes, Animal Services Director Sarah Aguilar reminded to pick up pets and animals, small and large. Aguilar said one of the most amazing things she saw happen during the emergency is that offers of help outran requests for help three-to-one. “That speaks to the effort and care the community demonstrates for each other,” she said. As for the pair of ostriches up on Figueroa Mountain Road, “They are fine,” she said, laughing. “They were fed, and one of the fire departments, the Los Angeles crew, assisted in keeping them fed.”
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