Santa Barbara brush fire damages 2 homes, scorches hillside before evacuations are lifted

Santa Barbara woke up to the sight of a charred and smoldering hillside Friday after a wind-whipped fire burned about 10 acres on the city’s Westside and TV Hill overnight.

The Loma Fire, which was first reported shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, was pushed up TV Hill toward buildings – including the KEYT television station – at a “rapid rate of spread,” according to public information officer Mike Eliason of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Fire crews from all over the county responded to help Santa Barbara City Fire Department personnel get hose lines on the fire and protect structures from the flames.

Two homes were damaged, but not destroyed, and no injuries were reported in the blaze, Eliason said.

As of Friday morning, fire authorities had revised the total acreage burned down to 10 acres from 20 acres, and firefighters remained on the scene extinguishing hot spots and smoldering brush in the area.

Containment was about 50% early Friday morning and crews were drawing a line around the burned area, “making sure the fire is dead out,” Eliason said.

“We don’t want any embers going outside containment lines with this wind.”

Santa Barbara vegetation fire spurred by strong winds

The wind-driven vegetation fire started shortly before 9 p.m. and “it had a rapid rate of spread,” Eliason said. “It was being pushed by the strong winds and also, since it was burning uphill, that made it move faster.”

Eliason said 50 homes and commercial buildings were initially threatened by the fire.

Evacuations were issued Thursday night for residents in the area of Loma Alta and Miramonte drives, and were lifted at about 12:30 a.m. once forward progress on the fire was stopped.

The blazing hillside could be seen from all over Santa Barbara.

“Luckily the winds were pushing it sort of horizontally compared to the hillside. If the winds were pushing a different direction, it could have easily slopped over the top of Miramonte (Drive) and into the canyon,” Eliason said.

The city Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire.

Meteorologist Todd Hall of the National Weather Service in Oxnard said Friday’s weather was expected to be less windy but drier than Thursday.

A wind advisory was in effect for the Santa Barbara area through Saturday morning.

This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 10:02 AM.