On fire again

Photo on the Westmont campus last night by Ray Ford/SB Independent

Poor Santa Barbara! Earlier this summer my beloved hills above Goleta burned and yesterday at 6:30 p.m. a fire broke out at the backside of Montecito that has already destroyed 100 homes and forced the evacuation of 5,400 people. (This in a city of 90,000.) Strong Santa Ana winds have been pushing the fire down the chaparral canyons (with which I am intimately familiar from hiking them for eight years) and into the residential areas. Apparently there have been many buildings lost or extremely damaged on the campus of Westmont College, a lovely little private school of which I have many friends who are alums.

My thoughts are with everyone I know back in S.B.!

Tea Fire Expands Dramatically

More Than 100 Homes Feared Lost in Montecito

My dad’s town in Oregon is flooding and my old stomping grounds are burning. Isn’t the West Coast exciting?

Photo looking east toward Montecito from Santa Barbara by Matt Wier / Associated Press

Update 10 a.m.: I just found this fire evacuation map updated to two hours ago that shows an evacuation warning stretching to FOUR BLOCKS from my old office at the Pacific Coast Business Times, and covering the homes of many people I know. GOOGLE MAP of Tea Fire

Update 10:15 a.m.: Check out this awesome coverage by the Daily Nexus!

Inferno In The Hills

Photo of fire looking east from UCSB campus over Goleta Beach and pier. (Right next to my old dorm.) Jonathan Kalan / Daily Nexus

Photo of fire in hills above Montecito by Jarrick Goldhamer / Daily Nexus