The Whittier Fire near Santa Barbara remains much as it was yesterday morning, with the exception that the fire is now 25% contained (in part by Lake Cachuma and the main highway).  The sundowner winds did not materialize, and there has been a good marine layer overnight to dampen the fuels.  Losses in this fire are massive, but still no reports of injuries.  The Boy Scout Camp has been virtually destroyed, and the Whittier Camp lost structures as well.  Closures and evacuations remain as they were.  The fire will burn for a long time in what is mostly wildland, much as its neighbor, the Sherpa Fire, did last year.  As a result, I’ll stop the daily updates unless there is something significant to report.

I had another quick note from Zakiah this evening — she is back in the US.

She had suffered a heart attack, and was in the hospital in London.  She had an angiogram and angioplasty there, and came home with medications.  She is now seeing a cardiologist at home, and commented that she’s glad to be back at home and that the best health care is “right here in the good old USA.”  She will try to post something in the next few days, but for now is quite tired and getting a lot of rest.

Part 1 of this post was originally posted on Word Press on July 8.  As you read through this, I am adding two updates -- I will try to duplicate future posts as I write them, but I've had computer issues for the last couple of days, making this a bit difficult.

One of the consequences of heavy rains in Southern California is the potential for serious wildfires.  The rain would seem to be a help in the prevention of fires — on the contrary, the rain causes the growth of grasses and brush (do you remember the green hillsides from my previous posts?).  The grasses stay green for up to about a month, after which they dry out with the warmth of the late spring weather, and by now they are usually very dry (thus the term “tinder dry”).  Any small spark can cause the outbreak of a major fire, particularly in hot, windy, dry weather.

There are currently two serious fires in Santa Barbara County.  The first broke out on Thursday afternoon — by Friday morning it had burned 3,500 acres, and by this morning the number was 19,000 acres.  It is still around 20,000 acres, with only 10% containment.

This afternoon a fire broke out across the highway from the dam at Lake Cachuma.  This has the potential of being a very serious fire, making national news.  It has burned on both sides of the highway– the road that we travel every time we go to see the lake.  It began near a summer camp, and there are a number of camps in the area.  There is also a juvenile correction facility a short distance upstream from the lake.  This afternoon, there was an immediate mandatory evacuation of about 20 miles of the valley, though some of the campers were temporarily stranded and “sheltered in place.”  The campers have now all been evacuated from the area, and were taken out of the valley to the Solvang area downstream from the dam.

The fire is burning uphill, and may have actually crested the mountains.  The last time this happened, the fire burned into the City of Santa Barbara — there is the potential for this fire to do the same.  The area is known for its “Sundowner Winds,” strong downhill winds that blow for a couple of hours beginning just after nightfall.  If these winds arise, you will undoubtedly read/hear in the morning that fire has reached either Santa Barbara or Goleta.

I am not in Santa Barbara this week!  I am currently safe at my home, about 200 miles away.  I have many friends and relatives in Santa Barbara, though, and am seriously concerned for their safety.  I don’t think the fire will actually burn into Santa Barbara, but it could easily burn into Goleta, the city’s northern suburb.  I’m far enough away that I won’t be able to watch this on television, but will stay in close touch with family and friends, and will post an update tomorrow.

Sunday, July 9

On Sunday morning, less that 24 hours after it began, the “Whittier Fire,” so named because it began near Camp Whittier near Lake Cachuma, is still raging on.  It was apparently sparked by a car fire on the 2-lane, forested portion of the highway  past Lake Cachuma.  As of 8 am today, it had burned 7,800 acres, and was 0% contained.  All 90 children, 50 camp staffers, and countless firefighters who sheltered in place at one of the camps have been evacuated safely.  The fire crested the mountain, and flames were visible from Isla Vista, in the western part of Goleta.  Today is predicted to be another hot (100 degrees), dry (15% humidity) day, with winds up to 12-15 mph — not an easy day for firefighters.  They are diverting equipment and personnel from another fire farther north to help fight this fire.  It sppears now that, if it actually comes down the mountain, it will miss most of the developed part of Goleta, burning towards a less developed area between Goleta and El Capitan — but winds and fire are fickle, and anything could happen!  The air quality in Santa Barbara is terrible, and friends tell me there is ash all over everything.

As of now, my plan is to spend a few days in Santa Barbara in about 2 weeks — hopefully by then the fire will be contained and it will be safe to be in the area.  I am fortunate to be flexible enough to delay that trip if necessary.  For the next couple of days, my computer will be in process of a major upgrade — I’ll update when I am able, and will add updates to my comments

Monday, July 10

The Whittier fire is stil growing — this morning it has covered 10,800 acres, and is only 5% contained.  Twenty structures have been destroyed, mostly at one of the camps near where the fire started, and 3,500 people have been evacuated.  The new acreage is to the west of the burned area, on the front (ocean) side of the mountain.  Photos of the burn area are really devastating.

The heat has dropped about 10 degrees since yesterday, and the winds are down.  They did not have ‘Sundowner Winds’ on Sunday evening, allowing the sea breezes to head the fire uphill and back on itself for the evening.  However, the terrain is extremely inaccessible, particularly on the front side.  Fortunately, both sides of this fire on the front side have been involved in serious fires within the last couple of years, which has depleted the source of fuel.  On the back side of the mountain, the fuel, mostly oily chaparral  has not burned for 62 years.  The highway from Santa Barbara to Lake Cachuma and Solvang is still closed, and they expect to keep it closed for several days.

Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate so the firefighters can get a handle on this fire.  Meantime, the Alamo fire, farther north, is still out of control, and there is a new fire, the Butte Fire, broke out yesterday north of Sacramento, along with the myriads of small fires.

For those of you who know her, I had a quick note from Zakiah last Wednesday, asking me to let you know that she has been busy and couldn’t get on WordPress.  Coincidentally, my computer has been down, and I have not been able to rep-post it until this evening  She wrote from the train to Chicago, on her way to London.  She wanted you to know that she’s not ignoring you, and that she will return in July and will answer all your comments.

Last week I had a visitor from Arizona.  Gary (aka righteousbruin) was on a quick trip to collect a small amount of sea water as a gift to a grieving friend, so we met at the Crystal Cove Cottages for lunch and a walk on the beach.  It was a warm day, and the cafe is always busy — we had a wait of about 20 minutes for a table, so spent that time walking along the cottages to see how they had fared through the winter.  It’s been 2 years since I’d been there, and there has been considerable degradation due to weather and neglect during that time.

Crystal Cove is a State Park.  The cottages were erected in the 1920’s and 1930’s by ranch hands on the Irvine Ranch as weekend cabins.  The Ranch allowed its workers to build here, using whatever materials they wished (including driftwood, pieces of wrecked ships, etc.).

When the ranch was subdivided and developed, the workers were allowed to remain in their cottages until the area was donated to the State in 2006, which decided it would be best to renovate them and make them available as vacation rentals for all the citizens.  The workers were evicted, and funding was sought to renovate the cottages.

We walked the undeveloped portion of the ‘colony’ first, to the west of the cafe.  This group of cottages have been unoccupied and unmaintained for several years, awaiting funding and permission to rebuild.  The State Coastal Commission has finally granted permission, which will now allow for the cottages to be demolished and rebuilt; funding is ongoing through a special Foundation.

In the meantime, they have been blueprinted, so that the reconstruction can be done in a manner to preserve the ambience of the area.

As we walked back, our buzzer called us for lunch.  We sat at a nice table on the patio, looking out at the beach and the sea, watching the day go by as we chatted and caught up with each other’s news.

After lunch, we wandered along the beach in the opposite direction.  These cottages on the southeastern side of a small stream were renovated early in the process, and have been used by renters for several years.  They may be rented for a week at a time, and the waiting list is at least 6 months long.  Crossing the stream,

we followed the beach past several more cottages.

and meandered down to the waterline.

We found shells embedded in rocks,

and gifts of feathers lying on the sand,

and enjoyed a short walk along the beach.

The visit ended with a walk back to the cafe and up the canyon a short distance, where we caught a tram to the parking lot.  It was a delightful day, and I was honored to be along on Gary’s quest to find a jar of sea water!

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This is copied from a WordPress post that I posted several days ago -- my computer has been on the fritz since then, and I was unable to duplicate it here.  We have since had a heat wave and lots of brushfires, and the temperatures have calmed down somewhat.  Tomorrow, July 4, will be nice, and then we will have another heat wave on its way!