Winds shift direction of Zaca Fire

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A favorable change of winds shifted the Zaca Fire away from populated areas and back to the north and east yesterday, providing much-needed relief for firefighters and curbing the amount of ash falling from the skies over Santa Barbara.
While the area ravaged by the blaze grew to 63,350 acres and containment figures still hovered just below 70 percent yesterday evening, fire officials said the shift in wind is giving firefighters the opportunity to dig their heels in and fight back.

“As long as the winds continue as they are, and they are forecasted to do so, everything is looking good for those populated areas,” said Robert Rainwater, fire spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s giving us a change to retrench. We’re really lucky to get this turn of weather.”
Rainwater said burn operations that help build a buffer of protection from active flames took place in the Peachtree Canyon area yesterday and that fire crews will start on the southern edge of the fire near Buckhorn Road.
“A lot of the smoke that was in the air was from our burnouts,” Rainwater said. “...As long as they have a good defensible position, they’re going to go at it.”
Winds from the southwest helped push flames away from a fire line about two to four miles from Paradise Road and back toward Big Pine Mountain. Those winds are expected to continue for the next few days, Rainwater said.
Fire officials announced an evacuation order for the residents and visitors of Paradise Road and Lower Santa Ynez River Road to Gibraltar Dam on Friday, upgrading from an evacuation warning issued only a few hours earlier. Los Prietos Boys Camp and the Rancho Oso Guest Ranch are included in that evacuation area.
Rainwater said there is no word on when those evacuations, or the closure of State Route 154, will be lifted. The winding highway linking the Santa Ynez Valley with Santa Barbara has been closed to non-residents since Friday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a resolution declaring the Zaca Fire as a state of emergency on Friday at Santa Barbara County’s Emergency Operations Center, along with members of the County Board of Supervisors.
“The proclamation is a necessary step to provide for orders, funding and the use of additional resources when a large-scale emergency, such as a fire, requires evacuations or has the potential to disrupt normal government and public operations,” said William Boyer, communications director for Santa Barbara County.
Officials also opened a Red Cross emergency shelter at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, and emergency workers said only one family is currently staying there.
Acreage burned by the Zaca Fire blossomed immensely since last Thursday’s figure of just over 37,000 acres as it tore over Little Pine Mountain and down into the Santa Cruz Creek drainage. Three historic cabins caught up in the furious charge had been wrapped in protective aluminum insulation, Rainwater said, and there is no word on whether they survived the intense flames that reached 100 feet in height at times.
More than 2,300 fire personnel are fighting the fire, along with eight air tankers and 17 helicopters, fire officials said. A second National Incident Management Team also set up camp in New Cuyama, a small town on Highway 166 north of the blaze.
Current road closures include Happy Canyon and Figueroa Mountain roads at the Los Padres National Forest boundary, and East Camino Cielo between Painted Cave and Gibraltar roads.