Officials discuss spread of Zaca Fire

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A veritable pantheon of firefighting experts answered questions and concerns of the community about the quick-moving Zaca Fire at a townhall meeting in Goleta yesterday evening.
Fire officials addressed issues ranging from weather, the fire’s path and containment efforts to evacuation routes, warning systems and emergency shelters.

“We are in a full suppression mode,” Incident Commander Aaron Gelobter told the crowd of more than 150 in attendance. “...This area that the fire is moving into hasn’t burned in our recorded history.”
Gelobter, who heads one of two national incident management teams, outlined the current movement of the fire and recent efforts to direct it away from populated areas such as Peachtree and Happy canyons.
Wind, humidity and temperature aren’t the driving force behind the Zaca Fire, which has eaten up more than 37,000 acres of rugged forest in Santa Barbara’s backcountry since July 4, Gelobter said. Instead, flames have been driven by old, dry fuels and the suppression effort made more difficult by rough, rugged terrain.
“[The terrain] makes it one of the most difficult fire fights in California,” Gelobter said.
John Scherrei, fire chief for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, went so far as to describe the view of the land from above as resembling a “bucket full of shark teeth.”
Maps of the fire and Los Padres National Forest showed the latest movement of the fire, the red lines resembling a lobster’s claw reaching southeast into the wilderness along McKinley Ridge.
Squiggly black lines also crisscrossed the map, representing direct and contingency dozer lines along the Santa Cruz Creek drainage and near the communities of Painted Cave, Camino Cielo and Hidden Valley.
Gelobter said there is a possibility in the next 24 to 48 hours that the flames will reach Santa Cruz Creek and Buckhorn Road, and crews are standing by to conduct burn operations and support fire lines at those locations.
The vegetation in those areas are lighter due to the Marre Fire of 1993, Gelobter added.
“We have the opportunity to make a dent in this fire as it moves to the east,” he said.
In the event that evacuations become necessary, however, fire officials informed those in attendance about evacuation procedures, describing how they will contact residents and provide shelter and support.
Tom Walton, a sergeant with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, described the county’s reverse 9-1-1 system, which calls all land lines in a prescribed area with a prerecorded warning message. He offered those with only cell phones an application to get their number added to the database, and emphasized the importance of contacting neighbors in the event of an evacuation.
“If you notice your neighbor loading up all their things and peeling out of their driveway, that can be your notification,” Walton said.
Deputies will also go door-to-door, fly a helicopter overhead broadcasting a warning message and patrol neighborhoods once residents leave to ensure the belongings left behind remain safe.
Representatives from Red Cross told the public that Dos Pueblos High School is currently on standby as an emergency shelter, as is Santa Ynez High School. Animal Services officials also told the crowd that shelters will be set up for small pets in the event that the Zaca Fire spreads to populated communities, and asked that people with large animals contact them to discuss plans for moving and sheltering them.
Chief Scherrei closed the presentation by saying he is “cautiously optimistic” about the coming week, describing the possibility of the Zaca Fire reaching Camino Cielo or other communities as “remote.”
Forest Service officials also announced the closure Los Padres National Forest lands that they had just reopened less than a week ago. Public entry is now prohibited between Highway 166 in Santa Barbara County and Highway 33 and Matilija Canyon in Ventura County, encompassing about 649,000 acres.