Fire hits San Rafael Range, Zaca Lake campground evacuated

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A fire that began in Bell Canyon in the San Rafael Mountain range at 10:30 a.m. yesterday has scorched an estimated 700 acres and is burning strong just nine miles north of Los Olivos.
Fire Captain Eli Iskow said the blaze, which is being called the Zaca Fire due to its close proximity to Zaca Lake, was noticed by a Santa Barbara County fire helicopter pilot while firefighters were battling a small 10-acre fire near the junction of Highway 154 and Foxen Canyon Road yesterday morning.
Before firefighters could reach the Zaca Fire, Iskow said it had already consumed hundreds of acres.


“It took off,” Iskow said of the fire. “It’s been very, very difficult to access on the north side of the San Rafael ridges.”
Iskow said the fire jumped the north ridge, but has slowed slightly through the day, which saw temperatures that he said topped 100 degrees fahrenheit. He said the heat contributed to three injuries to firefighters -- all of whom were diagnosed with heat exhaustion. Two of the injured firefighters work for the U.S. Forest Service. The third is a Santa Barbara County firefighter.
Iskow said the county firefighter was treated in Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital. He said he was not sure if he had been released.
A group of about 15 people at Zaca Lake were evacuated, but Iskow said it was done only as a precautionary measure. He said the lake’s staff and permanent residents were allowed to remain since the fire was traveling away from the lake.
Heavy air traffic was seen throughout the day in the area, which Iskow said consisted of six water drop helicopters and six fixed wing tankers that drop retardant on and around the fire.
Iskow said about 260 firefighters were battling the blaze as of last night, and bulldozers are clearing brush and creating “dozer lines.”
Iskow said he hopes to have three more helicopters on the scene today and 400 more firefighters have been called for.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Iskow said reliable sources say a welding, or grinding operation was underway in Bell Canyon around the same time the fire started.
Iskow said the fire is moving towards the Sisquoc River drainage and said the winds today are expected to be more prevalent than they were yesterday.
The only current road closure is the Zaca Lake access road, but Iskow said residents should try to avoid Foxen Canyon Road, which is being used to shuttle equipment to the fire.
The Zaca Fire comes on the heels of the Rancho Fire, which burned nearly 500 acres in the Santa Ynez Mountains last week.
Iskow said the fires are blunt reminders that the land is dry and ready to burn.
“The current status of the vegetation in this county is ready to burn aggressively with the slightest spark and that’s the message we need to get out there,” Iskow said. “We are in the beginning of July and we’re burning as if we’re in the middle to end of September. It’s like we skipped July and August and wen right to September.”