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UPDATE: Montecito fire toll upped to 150 homes as firefighters gain ground

By Staff

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Fire crews extinguish the remains of Mount Calvary Monastery today, which was destroyed in the Tea Fire. / Len Wood/Staff

“Upwards of 150 homes” have been destroyed thus far by the Tea Fire, the wind-stoked inferno that continues to burn in the foothill areas above Montecito and Santa Barbara, officials said this afternoon.

The revised estimate — up from 100 homes earlier in the day — came from Santa Barbara city and county fire officials at a 4 p.m. briefing outside Santa Barbara City Hall.

Despite the growing damage toll, lighter-than expected winds and an aggressive firefighting effort on the ground and in the air have allowed firefighters to make significant progress in quelling the 2,500-acre blaze, said Santa Barbara Fire Chief Ron Prince.

But he also warned the winds were expected to kick up again this evening, and that the fire remained a threat to life and property in the upscale community and surrounding neighborhoods.

Prince also noted that firefighters who worked through the night “saved a lot of homes. ... There were some amazing saves.”

Because of rugged terrain and a “very irregular” burn pattern, the official containment estimate remains at zero, said Tom Franklin, deputy county fire chief.

As the sun came up this morning, officials got their first good look at the devastation inflicted by the blaze, which broke out Thursday evening and was quickly whipped into an inferno by gusty winds that — along with hilly, brush-covered terrain and darkness — severely hampered firefighting efforts.

At least 13 people has been injured, two seriously, and some 2,500 acres charred.

Nearly 2,500 homes have been ordered evacuated, and officials said in most areas it will be at least another day before residents are allowed to return to their homes — or what’s left of them.

Rich Glaus, deputy police chief for Santa Barbara, “begged” for patience from displaced residents eager to return to their homes. Areas will be reopened only after authorities are certain they are safe.

The two most serious injuries involved residents who were burned; they were taken to the Sherman Oaks Burn Center for treatment.

The blaze broke out about 5:45 p.m., and towering flames could be seen from throughout the South Coast throughout the night.

The blaze has been dubbed the Tea Fire because it started near the remnants of a historic Montecito estate built in the early 1900s and known as the Tea Garden. The area is north of Westmont College near the intersection of Mountain Drive and Cold Springs Road.

Fire swept across the campus of Westmont College, where students were kept safe in the gymnasium through the night. Two campus buildings — physics and math — were destroyed by flames, and the Clark Dormitory was damaged.

The Mount Calvary Seminary north of Westmont College was destroyed, according to county Sheriff Bill Brown.

Some water-dropping helicopters were used in the firefight overnight, but a bigger aerial arsenal — including fire-retardant-dropping tankers — began today, said Browning Allen, a spokesman for the city of Santa Barbara..

That included deployment of a DC-10 tanker, which can drop huge loads of retardant in a single run, and was to begin making drops along the fire’s northern front at about 11 a.m.

As to the progress of the fire, officials expressed concern about conditions that would mirror what was experienced in this summer’s Gap Fire above Goleta.

In that blaze, the fire tended to settle down and move uphill during the day, then reverse course and move laterally during the night, driven by down-slope winds that pushed flames toward populated areas.

Many schools in and around the burn area have been closed, Allen said.

Some 200 people spent the night at an evacuation center set up at San Marcos High School in Goleta.

Thousands of people remained under mandatory evacuation orders as firefighters sought to minimize injuries and loss of life.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County at the request of local officials.

The governor’s declaration dedicates state personnel and equipment to the firefighting effort. It also says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to give California a grant to help fight the fire.

A water emergency has been declared in Montecito and parts of Santa Barbara today as firefighters have drawn down reservoirs to “dangerously low levels” in battling the wildfire.

At 6:45 a.m. today, measurements indicated the Montecito had “about 20 percent of normal water storage in reservoirs serving the fire area.”

By 1 p.m., the level has been reduced to “less than 10 percent.”

“To avoid a complete water outage in the fire area, please continue your conservation efforts and use water only for health and sanitation purposes ... ,” district officials said, adding that a key pump station was placed back into service at 12:15 p.m. today which should increase water storage levels.

“It is expected that it will take three days to restore normal reservoir operating levels.”

As a precaution, due to heavy smoke in the area, the Santa Barbara Zoo is closed to the public today. It will reopen when conditions allow, said Rich Block, Zoo CEO.

The damaging north winds that fueled the Tea Fire Thursday night and early this morning have decreased to less than 10 mph, and are not expected to return, according to Alan Reppert, a meteorologist with the AccuWeather.

However, in the canyons and passes, there could be unsustained 70 mph wind gusts this afternoon and tonight because of the Santa Ana winds that come from the high desert areas to the north and east, Reppert said.

A red flag warning has been allowed to expire, and the level of humidity has remained steady since Thursday night at 30 to 40 percent, and will continue through Saturday, according to AccuWeather.

Firefighters in the area will probably be met with 15 to 25 mph winds from the northeast, but meteorologist Ryan Kittell with the National Weather Service said the direction may switch today, giving firefighters a small relief.

“We might see the wind switch to the south and depending on where the fire lines are, it might help keep the fire away from the city,” Kittell said, adding that it would be a light, southern wind.

An air-quality warning was issue for Santa Barbara and Montecito through the weekend due to widespread smoke from the fire.

The city of Santa Barbara has three public information kiosks set up today throughout the city that offer updated information, maps and important contact information for the public, according to the Santa Barbara County Emergency Operations Center.

The kiosks are at Santa Barbara City Hall at 735 Anacapa St., Trader Joe’s at 29 S. Milpas St. and Loreto Plaza at 3305 State St.

A “Bark Force Demonstration” , which would train Santa Barbara County residents to help recruit search and rescue dogs, has been postponed due to the Tea Fire.

The event, to be held by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, was scheduled for Saturday at the Santa Barbara Fire Rescue Facility on Olive Street.

No new date has been scheduled yet.