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Rancho Fire Nearly Contained |
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By Tom Schultz
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Tuesday, July 03 2007 |
UPDATE 5:20 p.m.: The fire was fully contained with no injuries reported and no structures damaged, officials said.
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Firefighters had a blaze that burned in Los Padres National Forest 80 percent contained by Monday morning, and expected it to be fully contained by early Tuesday.
Crews mobilized from across Santa Barbara County and beyond to fight the Rancho Fire, which ignited Saturday along the Santa Ynez River near Paradise Road about five miles east of Highway 154. By late Monday, a signifigant portion of the more than 625 firefighters who responded had packed up and headed home.
"There's very little activity at all," said Robert Rainwater, a spokesman for Los Padres National Forest. "There's been no fire growth in the last two days."
The cause remained under investigation.
Several Los Padres recreation areas in the vicinity of the fire were still closed Monday afternoon, Rainwater said.
This comes as officials extend a general high-fire "Red Flag Alert" for the sourthern stretch of the county until 8 a.m. Thursday, when conditions and forecasts will be reassessed by county fire chiefs. It was the second time the caution was extended since it was issued on Friday.
"All burning permits in the effected areas are cancelled, and will remain cancelled until further notice," County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow, department spokesman, said in a statement. "The 'Red Flag Alert' is being extended based on the existing dry conditions, a continuing warmer period coupled with low relative humidities and predicted winds in the interior mountain areas and South Coast."
"Also, some of our firefighting resources are still committed to the Rancho Fire," Iskow said. "The fire department urges residents and those within the 'Red Flag' area to be more aware of activity in their area and immediately report any suspicious observations or concerns to 911. Any activity in brush areas or areas with vegetation should be done using extreme caution."
The designation has prompted departments to beef up available staffing for the alert period, Iskow said.
The Rancho Fire started at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and sent a huge plume of smoke across the Santa Ynez Mountains and Santa Barbara, where residents -- initially unaware of its location -- wondered if flames might suddently jump the ridgeline that overlooks the city.
Nervous homeowners -- some fearing a reoccurence of the devastating Painted Cave Fire, and others aware of the wildland inferno which took out more than 220 homes in South Lake Tahoe this week -- flooded the county's emergency line.
The fire grew from 10 to 300 acres in its first hour, officials said.
By midnight Saturday, the fire had calmed a bit at its lower levels, but officials remained wary of the potential for high winds that never materialized. |
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