‘Critical day’ for growing Goleta fire; Big Sur blaze only 5% contained

GOLETA, Calif. – Driven overnight by “sundowner” winds that gusted to 50 mph, the Gap fire grew to more than 8,300 acres, but by morning was 24% contained, fire officials said. The blaze destroyed four outbuildings and led to the evacuations of at least 2,663 homes. About 850 other homes remain on standby for evacuation, fire officials said.

The fire is one of more than 330 burning in the state, down from a peak of 1,700 that have ignited since June 20, many caused by lightning strikes. So far, fire officials said more than 510,000 acres from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean have burned, destroying 34 homes and 32 outbuildings.

Federal and state authorities, who have more than 20,000 firefighters and other personnel on the lines, said this morning that nearly 11,000 homes are threatened.

In addition to evacuations in Santa Barbara County due to the Gap fire, some residents of Monterey and Shasta counties remain under evacuation orders. In Butte, Kern, Mendocino and Plumas counties, as well as additional areas of Monterey County, residents have been warned that they may need to evacuate if fires there grow worse.

Near Big Sur, a stubborn fire that started June 21 remained only 5% contained this morning, fire officials said. The fire has burned nearly 69,000 acres, shutting down premier tourist destinations and portions of Highway 1. This morning, thick smoke continued to fill the air and fire officials said they are concerned that the high heat forecast for midweek could worsen conditions for a fire that has proved hard to fight in the difficult terrain.

Near Goleta, the Gap Fire, which started Tuesday evening, has been fueled by very dry brush that has not burned in more than 50 years old. Firefighters there are dealing with steep, rocky terrain up to 3,000 feet high in the Santa Ynez Mountains. The last measurable rain in the area was more than two months ago, officials said.

At a 6 a.m. firefighter briefing, officials said today was crucial to gaining an upper hand on the fire and protecting homes to east before another night of sundowners started to blow. These winds can create flames more than 15 feet long that cause spot fires up to a quarter-mile away uphill and a mile away downhill – one reason for the fire’s overnight growth of about 1,800 acres.

“This is going to be a critical day for us,” said Incident Commander James Smith. “We want to be vigilant, we want to stay persistent and put a good amount of effort in the [east] today … so we can seal it up … so we can focus on the [west] tomorrow.”

Firefighters today aim to keep the fire south of West Camino Cielo, north of Cathedral Oaks Road, west of Old San Marcos Road and east of Dos Pueblos Canyon. The main focus of the firefight today is the east, where the fire is positioned in the San Jose Creek drainage near old San Marcos Road, threatening the communities of Trout Club, Old San Marcos, Camino and Painted Lake, Smith said.

“Our hope is to close this off,” he said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke this morning at the command post at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, describing his daily briefings since the fire siege began two weeks ago: 500 fires, 1,000 fires, 1,500 fires. Schwarzenegger told those gathered that California’s fire season was now year-round and pushed his proposal for a fee to supplement the state’s emergency resources.

He was scheduled to next to meet with fire officials and tour an evacuation center. He has declared the area a state firefighting priority.

Temperatures today were expected to be in the 80s and 90s, with winds gusting up to 20 mph northeast upslope for most of the day. The Santa Ynez Mountains ridgeline runs east to west with north-south slopes and the fire is primarily situated at midslope, burning in a warm thermal belt. Therefore the upslope winds, which were not much of a factor Friday due to the cloud cover, are expected to help firefighters as they blow away from Goleta and up the mountains. It is the sundowner winds, pushing downslope, that are the greatest concern.

The evening sundowners, which are forecast from about 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., will turn those winds downslope again, but they are also expected to be weaker than Friday night, said Rich Thompson, the incident meteorologist. The fire is expected to be most problematic on the western and eastern edges, officials said.

Today 1,186 firefighters will be on the line, with at least five helicopters out dropping water on the fire, in addition to air tankers as they become available, officials said. At one point Friday, 15 air tankers were dropping retardant on the fire.

“I know we’re at the top of the list because anytime an air tanker is available in the state, they call me immediately and we take it immediately,” said Brad Joos, air operations branch director.

The cause of the fire, which started about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday near West Camino Cielo, is still under investigation and has so far cost $2.5 million to fight, said Helen Tarbet, a spokeswoman with Los Padres National Forest. The fire has injured two firefighters, who had minor injuries related to smoke inhalation, Tarbet said.

Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this report.

tami abdollah@latimes.com