CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS : InciWeb: Zaca Wildland Fire - Acres: 32,000 acres Percent Containment: 70 percent

Sunday, July 29, 2007

InciWeb: Zaca Wildland Fire - Acres: 32,000 acres Percent Containment: 70 percent

Zaca Wildland Fire burn map - Perimeter map

Zaca Wildland Fire

INCIDENT UPDATED 15 MIN. AGO

ANNOUNCEMENT

Evacuation Ordered Issued for the Peachtree Community
An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for the Peachtree Community. An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued for Happy Canyon Road up to Baseline Avenue. With the current warming and drying trend, active bu... more

Forest Service Reduces Zaca Fire Closure Map
Credit: Forest Service Reduces Zaca Fire Closure Map

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Summary

Location: 15 miles Northeast of Buellton, Santa Barbara County

Unified Command Team: Los Padres National Forest and Santa Barbara County Fire

Start Date & Report Time: July 4, 2007 at 10:53 AM

Acres: 32,000 Acres

Percent Containment: 70 percent

Estimated Containment: August 3, 2007

Resources: Hand Crews: 13; Dozers: 3; Engines: 7; Air Tankers: 8; Helicopters: 15; Water Tenders: 22; Overhead Personnel: 116; Total Personnel: 502; Injuries: 8; Structures Threatened: 0; Fireline-to-Build: 5 miles; Estimated Cost-to-Date: $36.5 million

Current Forest and Road Closures:

Happy Canyon Road open.
Figueroa Mountain road open.
Los Padres National Forest Officials have reduced the forest closure. The updated closure order and map are available at http://www.inciweb.org/.
The Los Padres National Forest Officials would like to remind forest visitors to be careful when traveling the Happy Canyon and Figueroa Mountain roads due to the continued use of fire equipment in the area.

Significant Events: An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for the Peachtree Community. An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued for Happy Canyon Road up to Baseline Avenue. With the current warming and drying trend, active burning continued throughout the night in the uncontained, southeast area of the fire. Approximately 1000 acres burned in a southeast direction since yesterday with areas burning out of the San Rafael Wilderness, including two spot fires. The relative humidity recovery overnight was very minimal, only reaching into the mid twenties. Active burning is predicted to continue today, as single digit relative humidities and temperatures into the mid 90s prevail in the fire area. Columns and drift smoke are likely to be seen throughout the Central Coast. While the fire burns in old and heavy fuel, fire crews and air attack are continuing to work diligently to bring this fire to full containment.

Current Situation: The current warm and dry weather conditions are expected to continue through Monday and the fire is expected to continue actively burning. The fire has spotted across McKinley Peak and has moved out of the San Rafael Wilderness in some areas.

Safety Message: Travelers using SR-154, please be cautious of firefighting equipment and personnel. In addition, with the re-opening of some areas of the forest, we want to remind forest visitors to watch for heavy equipment and crews working on the rehabilitation efforts.

Additional Information: In light of the current weather conditions and fire behavior, smoke from the Zaca Fire may be visible over a wide area with occasional drift smoke as far away as Santa Barbara, Goleta or other areas of the county.

Approved By Unified Incident Commanders:

AARON GELOBTER / RICK TODD

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Human Caused
Date of Origin	07/04/2007 at 1053 hrs.
Location	20 miles north west of Santa Barbara, Ca.
Incident Commander	Aaron Gelobter/rick Todd

Current Situation

Total Personnel	502
Size	32,000 acres
Percent Contained	70%
Estimated Containment Date	08/03/2007 at hrs.
Fuels Involved	4 Chaparral (6 Feet) Model 4 (6 ft) and oak woodlands. Fuel moisture levels are extremely low, at levels normally seen in late summer.
Fire Behavior	Fire remained active through the night.
Significant Events	Santa Barbara County evacuated the community of Peachtree.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Structure protection initiated for Peachtree. Major effort will be to hold western flank and keep the fire from moving toward Peachtree.
Projected Movement	High potential for the fire to spread.
Growth Potential	Extreme.
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme.
Remarks	The fire spread an additional 2,000 to 3,000 acres or more over the night.

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	5-10 (20) mph NE
Current Temperature	61-72 degrees
Current Humidity	21-47 %

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Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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