A Rocha’s website currently features a story detailing our local experience with the fire. Thanks is due to Barbara Mearns at A Rocha’s International Office for her care and interest.

Hello to all and thanks to each of you for your emails and calls regarding the fire. This past week has been nothing short of remarkable. The amount of displaced people (30,000) due to mandatory evacuations and an additional 30,000 on standby was staggering for our area. It would be safe to say that most people where either displaced or housing those that were displaced. Here is a summary of the events:

The fire appears to have been started by power tools used to clear brush along a popular hiking trail in our foothills. The fire appeared to be small and containable before hot winds began fanning the flames and creating our third major fire in 365 days. I took some photos which can be seen here:

Please note that some of these were taken in less than optimal conditions and one was a very rushed shot, but does give a sense of the moment. The image shown in the the photo “Jesusita Santa Barbara Fire Day 2″
gives the best feel for that second day. It became very apparent during day two of the fire that our new project site was potentially in danger with the flames roughly a mile and a half away. Although the
winds were blowing away from the site, I decided to begin packing our tiny A Rocha office on the property just in case the winds shifted, which they thankfully did not. Day three is when the real drama began and the most dramatic photos were taken. Early in the day the fire appeared to be a set of small camp fires with no major plumes of smoke visible. Around 6:00 PM I returned to the church site, located next to and above the conservation property, in order to gauge the wind and direction of the fire closest to the site due to its sweeping views. The fire had only progressed about 1/4 of a mile and was still over a mile away with the winds continuing to blow opposite the property. I noticed a make-shift command post set up on the property due west of the project site which included a water pick up spot for a firefighting helicopter. This spot was the same place where Tom, Marty, Ian, (all associated with A Rocha) and I reviewed the property in February. At roughly 6:30 PM the winds began their dramatic shift toward the property and within 30 minutes the flames we rapidly approaching. The mandatory evacuation orders came just as I drove down into our new project site to retrieve a few last items. I found the family living on the property beginning to pack, but had not been given the mandatory evacuation notice. We spent about 30 minutes removing as much of their possessions as we could fit into our three cars before driving away and notifying the authorities of the residence’s existence hoping that they would attempt to save it. The best we can figure, in retrospect, is that the property wasn’t visible to emergency personnel since it is tucked into the hills and was forgotten. I spent the rest of the evening helping another family evacuate as well as keeping an eye toward any news about the property. What news did come through in the reports was not encouraging. The watershed that runs through the site was mentioned several times as having been burned and the location of the fire that ‘jumped’ over a nearby freeway was identified as being right inline with the church property. I feel asleep very discouraged.

Day four was filled with mixed reports about the property - at one point I was told the church itself was standing, but our project site/office had most likely burned. From one vantage point I had, it looked like the property was good, but it would take visiting it to know for sure. All traffic to the site and surrounding vistas was barricaded due to emergency personnel conducting their jobs making a personal inspection impossible for me. Day five was Sunday and I spent most of the day wondering what the immediate future of our conservation work might look like. Assuming the worst and that the property had burned, could we host a day camp for kids in June if the area was charred? What exactly would our intern be focused on to help recovery efforts? What might this mean for additional events this summer and September?

Later on day five, we headed to church. Another congregation in town allowed our church to host a service in their building. I bumped into the family who lives on the project site while I was parking and hesitantly asked about the status of the land. Much to my relief he told me the flames had stopped less than 100 meters from their home and the site! Apparently he called one of his firefighting friends and was told that the staging area where the helicopter was picking up water next to the property was declared a necessary ‘holding ground’ and that they had made saving the house and the property a priority. Wow! After the service we drove to the church’s parking area and surveyed the damage. The burn area seemed even closer than reported - absolutely amazing! I am so grateful and thankful for the outcome of what had seemed to be a potentially huge set back for us. It’s awkward feeling thankful that our small patch of interest was spared damage while others lost all they own and our experience in no way compares to the trauma that others experienced. Please join us in praying for the families who are in this situation as they begin the process of recovery.

It appears the area around the project site has been spared from fire damage, although the area is still sealed off due fire activity about a half a mile away. The damage to the surrounding foothills is extensive and devastating. The homes closest to the property have been saved and we are thankful.

I will provide photos and more details once we get access to the site.

No new news regarding the status of the conservation project area and no new photos. Road closures around the project site and the lack of access made getting updated images impossible. The fire seemed to be moving up the mountians and away from the area most impacted yesterday, but potenitally toward another section of the city. More updates will be provided tomorrow.

Compared to the loss of property in the surrounding area and the impact on those families, we have lost little, but it appears that our first conservation site is very close to, if not part of, the destruction we witnessed last night. The fire took a very fast turn to the west in the late afternoon on Thursday. I have photos posted here on our flickr site that tell the tale most effectively. Click on the “Jesusita Fire” collection on the right side of our flickr page. We will continue to post updates later today.

For the third time in the last 365 days we have a local fire. Click here for a panoramic photo taken with my camera phone.

I headed up to the site around 3:30 pm today as the winds began to pick up significantly and began whipping up the fire. Flames were visible on many slopes of the moutnians. At one point it appeared that the fire reached the top of Cathedral Peak, but had nowhere to go with only rock left in its path. Within one hour it appeared that homes were burning and I began to gather a few valuable reference texts and some paperwork in case the fire switched its course and began heading west toward the A Rocha project site in the San Marcos foothills. I am unsure what the total damage is at this time - more updates tomorrow.