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Wildland residents focus on prevention

By Glenn Wallace/Staff Writer

One year ago, on July 4, two workers on a ranch near Zaca Lake sparked the second largest wildfire in state history.

As the fire swept eastward, burning through over 240,000 acres, mostly in the Los Padres National Forest, it came perilously close to the wildland communities at the base of Figueroa Mountain, and also those around San Marcos Pass.

“From my house I could see 180 degrees of fire, it looked like the surface of the sun,” said Mike Williams, whose home was seven miles from the fire line at one point.

Living with the threat of fire is nothing new for Williams.

“It’s part of the price of living in the wilderness,” he said in a phone interview last week.

As president of the Wildland Residents Association (WRA), it has been Williams’ job to prepare and educate the residents of the 600 homes scattered throughout the hillsides and heavy vegetation of the communities of Mountain Drive, Painted Cave, Paradise Canyon, San Marcos Trout Club and Rosario Park.

The nonprofit WRA was incorporated in 1982, and participates in traffic and water projects in addition to its fire education and preparation duties. The WRA handles the management of the San Marcos Pass Volunteer Fire Department, and assists in the management of the Mountain Drive Fire Department in Montecito.

As the Zaca Fire continued its easterly movement, the evacuation order was given for over 300 people in Paradise Canyon and the Los Prietos Boys Camp, while residents in the surrounding communities prepared for the worst.

The WRA helped organize the evacuation, broadcasting the news over its radio station, 1040-AM, and through the association’s phone tree and Web site, www.wildlandresidents.org.

Williams said the association also escorted residents to and from their homes, as Highway 154 had been closed by that time out of smoke and safety concerns.

“Those guys did a great job,” the Santa Barbara Fire Department’s Eli Iskow said. “Small localized groups that are informed and aware definitely helped the situation.”

Iskow called the fire “the biggest emergency event in the county’s history,” and said that his colleagues at the state and national level complimented the county and local organizations on their organization and preparedness.

With a small crew of 14 volunteers, and a small fleet of vehicles, mostly brush trucks equipped with fire retardant foam, the San Marcos firefighters try to put out small fires quickly, or stall their growth until the County Fire and Forest Service “cavalry’’ arrives, according to Williams.

During a major fire event in the area, where county and Forest Service personnel are occupied, the San Marcos department helps cover the usual fire and medical calls.

Department spokesperson Ted Adams said the WRA works more on preparations before the fire starts, such as clearing excess brush from populated areas, and keeping lines of communication open to the public.

“Our greatest ability and asset is to be able to communicate knowledge and educate,” said Adams, who doubles as the chairman of the Santa Barbara County Fire Safety Council, which offers information and presentations to homeowners and community groups interested in fire and disaster prevention and preparation.

Both Adams and Iskow said this fire season be as dangerous as last year, as evidenced by multiple fires burning through northern California.

Adams warned that while the Zaca Fire burned only small and uninhabited structures in the national forest, the next blaze might not be as kind.

“The Zaca Fire was unusual that it was a wildland fire that took forever to travel. While during the Painted Cave Fire (1990) we had minutes to evacuate homes,” Adams said.

Iskow said that with the local climate becoming dryer, and temperatures rising, the personal responsibility and fire emergency planning of groups like the WRA become more necessary every year.

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 737-1059 or gwallace@syvnews.com.

ZACA FIRE BY THE NUMBERS:

n Began July 4, 2007

n Firefighting personnel peaks at 3,090, Aug. 21

n Contained, Sept. 2

n Controlled, Oct. 29

n Estimated 500 residents evacuated

n Burned over 240,000 acres, one small structure burned

n 43 injuries, including a helicopter crash, during the suppression effort

n Estimated cost, $118.3 million