Cave Fire smaller than previously reported, now 40 percent contained, Cal Fire says
Update 7 p.m.:
The estimated size of the fire has been decreased to 3,126 acres, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire tweeted Wednesday night that the reduced acreage is due to better mapping of the burn area.
Containment meanwhile has jumped up to 40 percent.
Update, 4:25 p.m.:
The CHP is advising that a portion of Highway 154 will remain closed and there will be no thru traffic from the Santa Ynez area to Santa Barbara until further notice due to damage caused by the Cave Fire.
A news release sent from the agency at 4:15 p.m. says that Highway 154 remains closed at State Route 192 in Santa Barbara save for residents with identification who will be permitted by the CHP to travel no further than San Antonio Creek Road.
Highway 154 from the Hwy 246 roundabout is closed except for residents with identification who will be allowed to Cold Spring Tavern, Camino Cielo, and individuals with reservations at Lake Cachuma.
There is no estimate when the entire highway will reopen.
Update, 11 a.m.:
All evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted, and that residents may now return to their homes, Santa Barbara County said via Twitter at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Original story:
About 1 inch of rain fell on the Cave Fire area early Wednesday morning as a storm pushed into Santa Barbara County, and firefighters got more containment of the blaze overnight.
The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management issued evacuation warnings for neighborhoods south of the burn area Tuesday night, but no storm-related evacuations were ordered as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“Residents are advised to prepare an evacuation kit and plan to leave. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe at any time, do not wait, leave the area and move outside the Fire Evacuation Order and Debris Flow Evacuation Warning area. If you live or are near creeks and streams be aware that they may experience high flows and can rise quickly,” the county said in its warning.
Cave Fire evacuation orders remained in effect Wednesday morning, and an interactive map of the areas, and fire perimeter, is available at the ReadySBC.org county website.
Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said the blaze was estimated at 4,367 acres and 20% containment as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Some mutual-aid firefighting resources were expected to demobilize soon, although local resources will stay assigned until the fire is completely contained, he said.
“Incident Command is reporting that with good progress on the fire fight, repopulation plans are being evaluated and all should be in their homes later today and in time for Thanksgiving,” County Fire spokesman Mike Eliason said. “We thank you for helping the community as a whole work together to keep everyone safe.”
The National Weather Service expected up to 2 inches of rain between Wednesday and Friday along the South Coast, including freshly-burned areas of the Santa Ynez Mountains frontcountry. In addition, rainfall rates of more than 1/2-inch per hour were possible, causing concern for mud and debris flows in the areas that burned this week or are currently still burning.
County Flood Control crews were working most of the day and night Tuesday to clean out debris basins in the Cave Fire area, including the San Antonio and San Roque creek drainages, engineering manager Jon Frye said.
“Things are looking good so far, although light of day will allow us a better look,” he said at about 7:30 a.m.
The county’s webcams of South Coast debris basins showed little inflow into the basins so far.
County rainfall monitors showed the Trout Club within the Cave Fire evacuation area received almost 1 inch of rain as of 7:30 a.m., similar to nearby foothill areas.
Downtown Santa Barbara had .92 inches, Goleta had 1.06 inches, Montecito had 0.71 inches and Carpinteria had 0.59 inches.
Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc Valley and Santa Maria Valley areas had received between 0.5 and 0.8 inches as of early Wednesday.
Peak rainfall intensity was forecast to be between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Wednesday, although showers are expected throughout the day.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 9:55 AM.
