Rancher takes stock of damage following Alamo blaze

Bob Acquistapace stood atop a tall hill in Tepusquet Canyon Tuesday and took grim inventory of his vast cattle ranch.

Just days earlier, its rolling hills were tinted a hazy ochre and studded with grazing cows. Now they were charred black and dusted with gray-white ash.

“It’s a moonscape,” Acquistapace said, shaking his head. “It’s all but gone.”

Several main water sources for the 2,200-acre ranch — including a pipe and a receiving tank — were left melted after the Alamo fire raced across his property.

In addition to destroying miles of barbed-wire fencing, the fire scorched 1,800 acres of ranchland, rendering the grass unfit for cattle to eat.

Fortunately however, Acquistapace’s hilltop house was untouched by the wildfire, which continues to burn east of Santa Maria.

Since Friday, the 40-year-old has helped fire crews navigate the rugged terrain of Tepusquet Canyon.

Riding along with firefighters, Acquistapace has advised them on where to drive bulldozers and cut wire across his ranch so trucks could drive through. He’s also showed firefighters sources of water on his land — an essential aid in a narrow canyon where water delivery is difficult, according to Los Padres National Forest official Nic Elmquist.

Acquistapace’s wife and two children, 5 and 2 years old, evacuated to his mother’s house in town on Friday afternoon. Acquistapace stayed put however, even as the flames lit up the hills across from his house.

“I have put too much blood and sweat into this ranch, and I am not leaving,” Acquistapace said. “It’s that simple.”

As of Tuesday morning, the Alamo fire was 45 percent contained. The fire began last Thursday and spread quickly over the weekend due to hot, dry conditions. So far, it has burned more than 28,000 acres, destroyed one home and forced residents of 133 houses to evacuate, officials said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and the evacuation order remained in effect Tuesday.

Acquistapace said he still hasn’t had time to mentally process the damage. He has lived on the ranch for 15 years, raising and selling cattle, or what he calls “cowboying.” Prior to that, the ranch belonged to his father, and his grandfather before that.

Acquistapace argues that the Alamo fire didn’t need to be so destructive. He and other Tepusquet Canyon residents said the fire wouldn’t have been so large had the Santa Barbara County Fire Department set controlled fires in the area to destroy flammable brush beforehand.

David Zaniboni, a spokesman for the county Fire Department, said the window for to perform controlled fires was narrow — the weather cannot be rainy, nor can it be too hot and dry. The past few years of drought made lighting controlled fires difficult, he said.

“The conditions have to be ideal to be able to do those,” he said.

Acquistapace estimates replacing his water sources will cost thousands of dollars. A new tank will cost $20,000.

Luckily, most of his cattle appear relatively unscathed. At the first sign of trouble, he and his friends rushed to move the roaming cattle — about 200 cows and calves — toward a safer location close to his house.

Acquistapace thinks he lost a cow and a calf, and others are singed.

Later this week, when the firefighters clear out, he’ll begin counting his cattle and fixing the fences.

“Back to work,” he said.

megan.bernhard@latimes.com

@meg_bernhard

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