Tea Fire Update: Fire Out, Clean-up Begins
Posted by ws1 on:
All the evacuation notices have been lifted for Santa Barbara and Montecito, though there are still many road closures. Over 211 structures have been damaged or destroyed (and the number is still growing).
I was up on Mountain Drive today (to help a friend sift through the ashes of his home) and got a first-hand look at some of the damage. It's heartbreaking. There is an interesting mix of people up there; fire personnel, Cops, Landscapers, Marborg guys doing cleanup, homeowners assessing damage, and All-State agents everywhere. The general vibe seems to still be shock for the homeowners, though many of them are springing into action already, salvaging what they can, junking everything else. Pretty sad.
Looks like the Tea Fire was set accidentally by a group of around 10 students (they're calling them the 'tea-fire ten') who were apparently having a bonfire up at the Tea Gardens. I've read that 9 of the 10 were SBCC students, though of course they could have been anybody. I know very few Santa Barbaran's who haven't sneaked up there over the last 40 years.
I snapped a few shots of the burned area today which are here
Here are some aftermath pictures from Doc Searls
And in case you missed it, here are my dramatic photos from the night of the fire and a very interesting and well made citizen piece put together by Patrick Lawler and another by Ricky Montalvo.
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