Posted by 101livescan on 8/16/09 8:25pm
Msg #300280
Santa Barbara Fires under control
We had a nice marine layer come in last night that aided firefighters and helicopters/planes bring the fire more under control.
Winds were helping crews beat back this week-old wildfire in northern Santa Barbara County that investigators say was started by a camp fire used by marijuana growers. Stupidly they parked a late model van near where the fire had started, but they couldn't get to it after their camp fire ignited brush and trees, so they are on foot. The fire was 60 percent contained this morning. The blaze has burned nearly 134 square miles of timber and brush in and around the Los Padres National Forest about 20 miles east of Santa Maria.
Residents are being let back into homes in the Tepusquet Canyon area this afternoon. An unknown number of homes and ranches remain under evacuation orders on the fire's eastern edge.
The aftermath of foul air quality is difficult and will linger a couple of days. We were getting ash from this fire all the way down to Santa Barbara (60 miles away).
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