Evacuations ordered for Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County as blaze continues to grow
The Lake Fire continued to rage out of control early Sunday as authorities issued the incident’s first evacuation order — for the upper Figueroa Mountain Road area.
Firefighters from Santa Barbara County and the Los Padres National Forest responded to the incident near Zaca Lake just before 4 p.m. Friday, and the blaze quickly charred thousands of acres.
Authorities issued an evacuation order encompassing Figueroa Mountain Road from the Grass Mountain trailhead to the neighborhood within Sawmill Basin, including Tunnel Road and the Figueroa Campground.
People affected by this evacuation order area were told to leave immediately.
The blaze northwest of Los Olivos had blackened 13,264 acres as of Sunday morning, with 0% containment.
On Sunday morning, officials described the fire as very active and challenging, according to emergency dispatch reports.
The evacuation warnings issued earlier remain in effect. Those include north of Zaca Lake Road, east of Foxen Canyon Road, and south of the Sisquoc River.
Road closures in the area include Happy Canyon Road at the Forest Service boundary, Foxen Canyon Road at the Zaca Station Road and Alisos Canyon Roa and Figueroa Mountain Road at Midland School.
For shelter support, people can call 805-678-3073. For assistance with animal evacuations, call 805-698-0212.
On Sunday morning, a Complex Incident Management Team took operational control of the firefighting effort, a handoff to allow the initial fire crews and managers to get rest as the battle continues.
“A significant number of firefighting resources have been ordered for the incident, including hand-crews, engines, dozers, and fixed and rotor wing aircraft,” authorities said.
Weather is expected to continue to challenge efforts to corral the fire as the area experiences “high temperatures, drying vegetation, and little relief at night.”
“The National Weather Service has reported that “A heat wave this intense, this long, has not been experienced in this region in 20 years,’” according to InciWeb.
Due to significant smoke from the fire, Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and Air Pollution Control District officials issued an air quality watch on Saturday,
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com.
This story was originally published July 7, 2024 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Evacuations ordered for Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County as blaze continues to grow."