OPINION: Fire still a major threat

BY JERAMY GORDON

The Zaca Fire has been burning near the Santa Ynez Valley for more than a month now and county officials say we still have at least another month before the blaze will be fully contained.
Fortunately for Santa Barbara, the fire is moving east, but it continues to grow and as we saw last week, winds can shift at any time.

On Friday Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a State of Emergency for Santa Barbara County. On Saturday, state firefighters from California’s central valley arrived in Santa Barbara to help battle the blaze.
One of those firefighters said they were in town as part of a strike team to stop the Zaca Fire from breaching the ridge of the hill and heading toward the populated areas.
That firefighter told me the fire still poses a serious risk to Santa Barbara, and that his crew would be on hand until that risk is reduced.
Even though we are not in the fire’s path at the moment, there are other issues that should spark concern.
Southern California Edison warned over the weekend that power lines supplying the bulk of Santa Barbara’s power could possibly be at risk if the fire moved any further West.
Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum said on her radio show on Saturday that the City is prepared for such outages and tested all their generators last week.
Well that’s just fine for City staff, but what about all the residents and businesses? The City’s generators are only able to power city buildings, leaving everyone else in the dark.
Edison refused to say how long Santa Barbara could be without power, if that day were to ever come, but my estimate is it could be several days or even weeks.
If prepared, locals could probably handle a week or two without electricity, but if we’re hit with such an outage unprepared, it could be devastating to our economy.
City and fire officials will tell you Santa Barbara and its power grid is in no immediate danger, but with predictions that this fire will last another month, there’s no telling what could happen.
Rural residents north of Santa Barbara have already been warned to be ready for the worst in case the month-old Zaca Fire shifts and jumps protection lines. Evacuation order and warnings remain in effect, but no new orders have been issued.
There are currently more than 1,800 people fighting the fire. Total costs are estimated at $50 million so far.

LIGHT BLUE LINE
Tired of listening to people bicker about the city spending a measly $12,000 from its public art budget to paint a blue line around Santa Barbara, City Council member Helene Schneider decided to take matters into her own hands.
The City approved spending the money to paint a blue line on city streets indicating how high the ocean will rise if Greenland’s ice sheets continue to melt.
Locals got their nickers in a twist over the plan saying the city should find more productive ways to spend its money.
Schneider decided to seek donation to cover the costs of the volunteer endeavor and managed to raise the full amount needed.
When it comes to government spending, $12,000 is nothing. Last year the city spent $400,000 on a restroom for tourists.
Could the city have found a better place to spend that money? Not unless you think a toilet seat is more important than educating the public about the dangers of global warming.
Now that the fiscal responsibility is not on this city, the volunteer project can move forward as planned.
E-mail Jeramy Gordon at letters@santabarbarafree.com