What a beautiful property it was.
Posted on 11/13/2008 7:52:38 PM PST by Porterville
(Santa Barbara/ Montecito) UPDATED: All of Mountain Drive Ordered to Evacuate
Sycamore Canyon Fire Estimated at 20 Acres
Though still no official word yet from fire officials, KEYT is now reporting that all of Mountain Drive should evacuate, as of 6:50 p.m.
Chris Meagher reports that he spoke with Gayle Beebe, the president of Westmont. Some structures have caught fire, including the campus chapel. The students on the Westmont campus who have not evacuated yet are seeking refuge in the campus gym, which is made of concrete and is fireproof. The gym contains supplies for up to 1,200 people. According to Beebe, the fire started not war from the Westmont tea garden.
Because the fire may knock out power to neighborhoods around Santa Barbara, residents may want to sign up for the Indy Alert system, which will send text messages with all fire updated to cell phones. Sign up for Indy Alert here.
More to come as it becomes available. Independent.com will update with further evacuations.
It will still be years until all that is settled...but the crux of the argument was the “patrol” didnt lock the gates at sunset that night, like they were supposed to, and the people in the cave lit a fire that got away...
According to that Twitterer, this fire supposedly started at “The Arches” in the Mar Y Cel.
http://www.sbphototours.com/data/static/georgelogan/marycel.php
Oprah has the gall to talk about this like she is in some danger. She lives nowhere near this fire. I watched it about 30 seconds and turned it off. Rob Lowe called in to talk of his experience. What about the people who are for real experiencing it? She should say she doesn’t live near the fire, not even in a warning evac area, not even close to danger.
I still haven’t gone up there yet. Would have like to have seen it before yesterday.
Sorry, that was vague. I've worked in SB for, jeez, over five years now, but only lived here for a bit more than one.
Tonight the concern is also Ventura and the LA area as the winds are picking up there.
Talked to friends that lost homes last night. Heartbreaking. Many left without taking more then themselves, pets, and other family members only to find later their homes were lost.
It’s a great place, no doubt about it. Are you anywhere near the fire itself?
It’s all very sad. Worse, KCBS (Johnny Mountain) just said they’re expecting northeast winds around the fire area again in the 70 mph range tonight. The fire is at 0% containment. There has been a fatality reported — an elderly man. Like you said, red flag warnings are in place for L.A. tonight and all day tomorrow.
The current fear is that the fire may actually burn southwest into higher density housing upslope of SB.
What a beautiful property it was.
Boy, I wish an elected official would do that down here in SD county. Every time we have a fire, the unions use the event to claim that the fire wouldn't have gotten out of control if we didn't have volunteer departments in the back country. The papers and the local politicians keep falling for it because nobody's correcting the facts. Truth is, every major wildland fire we've had in the last six years started in the areas protected by the paid professional union firefighters. The volunteers haven't lost one yet. The argument's bogus anyway, because suppression will never be able to stop these things, but if the unions are going to assign blame, I wish somebody would set the record straight.
We watched it burn on KCAL’s feed last night. They thought it was the college, but the location the pilot provided and that distinctive entrance made it clear it wasn’t.
We’re on red flag down here near the border, too, and some idiot just decided to start a bonfire. The locals are working their way to it at the moment. There ought to be an IQ test to buy matches.
Oprah’s dogs were evacuated and taken to a four-star hotel.
She’s such a phony.
God bless those firefighters, and all the emergency personnel.
Here lack of leadership and the other “leaders” in charge of SB are destroying that town. Soon bandits will roam freely and weeds will grow inside the downtown library.
Check this out:
http://www.independent.com/news/2008/nov/14/plumber-fills-firefighters-tanks-undocumented-hook/
Everybody on property was ready to leave except for Peter. He had parked his truck facing downhill but he was still on the property trying to figure out what he was going to do next, when a police officer came up and told him about the mandatory evacuation. He said OK, and drove downhill and took a sharp left through the avocado grove and turned off his headlights.
“When the police car left the driveway, he returned. He told us he’d known for 19 years living in that area that this day was coming, and he’s a plumber, so in the deck area of our house he had a huge fire hose, connected to the water main for just this purpose.
“He started hosing down our house, and was joined by firemen who then arrived; and he ended up refilling their tanks with the water hose. Those guys and Peter stopped the fire right at our driveway. Our house was inches from being completely consumed.
“All the fire trucks in that area were coming to him to get their tanks refilled.
“He was there all night long. At 6:30 a.m., he called and said, “Your house is safe.”
“And Peter was so cute, because he said, ‘I have all these new friends now. They’re not from here, and they all wear yellow.’
“So we decided that yellow is the new black.”
Please keep posting, lainie.....you have the best posts on this thread, and the best tagline, too!
Keep up the good work!
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