• Facebook
  • Google Plus
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Header image

MyNewsLA.comLogo

Breaking news for greater Los Angeles and Orange County

Menu

Skip to content
  • Crime
  • Government
  • Business
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Hollywood
  • Life
  • OC
  • Verne Troyer, Mini Me in `Austin Powers' Films, Dead at 49
  • Man Arrested On Suspicion of Murder In Willowbrook
  • El Camino Real Wins U.S. Academic Decathlon
  • Suspect in Fatal Gardena Church Stabbing Captured in Texas
  • Special Food Items Available For Dodgers-Nationals Games

Home » Crime » This Article

Thomas Fire sparing LA, terrorizing Santa Barbara County residents

Posted by Toni McAllister on December 10, 2017 in Crime | 1,193 Views | Leave a response
Share this article:
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Thomas Fire
Crews battle the Thomas Fire as it burned near Carpinteria. Photo: OnSceneTV

As fire spread up to the eastern edge of Santa Barbara, and looped around to the north, Los Angeles-area firefighters joined personnel from as far away as Montana in the response.

At midday, the Thomas Fire had burned 173,000 acres, and had split onto two forks in an uncontrolled move west into the Santa Barbara foothills, and northwest towards Lake Cachuma.

Winds were not spreading the fire east or south towards Los Angeles County.

CalFire officials told KEYT television in Santa Barbara that the Thomas Fire had destroyed 754 buildings in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties as of midday Sunday. Another 162 structures were damaged, with both totals certain to increase as damage assessment efforts continued.

Some 88,000 evacuees have left the area, many east on the 101 Freeway to friends or family in the Southland. Traffic on the coastal route was flowing Sunday, although fire has scorched houses along the freeway east of Carpinteria and west of Ventura.

In Los Angeles County, the Skirball, Creek and Rye fires were winding down Sunday, and some of the fire trucks, personnel and support equipment from those blazes was flowing west to Ventura and Santa Barbara.

A Hiroshima-like cloud of smoke rose from the fire front, visible from Los Angeles County, at sunrise Sunday. The situation was dire in the foothills north of Highway 192, parallel to and north of the 101 Freeway.

Houses on the northern fringe of Carpinteria and Montecito were burning.

Thirty fire helicopters and six airplanes were at the Thomas Fire, many of them from Southland fire agencies. A squadron of four fire choppers was observed flying in formation down the coast towards Santa Monica on Saturday.

Two strike teams from the City of Los Angeles were at the Thomas Fire Sunday, and units and firefighters from Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica were in that joint effort. That mutual aid began last Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department had seven strike teams assigned to the Thomas Fire. In all, at least 100 fire department personnel were there, including bulldozer operators and inmate crews.

Like this story? Don’t miss any breaking news from MyNewsLA.com. Sign up here for your free newsletter.

 

“We’re in the process (now) of taking off (firefighters) from the Creek fire and Rye fire, as they wind down, and re-allocating them to the Thomas fire,” said county fire dispatcher Ed Pickett. He said that process will take place all day Sunday.

The Orange County Fire Authority sent one strike team, with five engine companies, to the Thomas fire when it first began. No new resources going to the fire now.

Among the troops sent from Orange County to Santa Barbara was OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi, who is serving as press information officer for the unified command. He told KEYT-TV Sunday that obeying evacuation orders was crucial.

“We tried to by sympathetic and allowed residents (of one area north of Carpinteria) to come back in, and then we had to evacuate them again,” Concialdi said.

–City News Service

Thomas Fire sparing LA, terrorizing Santa Barbara County residents was last modified: December 10th, 2017 by Toni McAllister

>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!

Follow us:
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusrss
Posted in Crime | Tagged containment, evacuations, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, Where is it burning?

Related Posts

An emergency vehicle's light bar. Photo by MyNewsLA.comCorona neighborhoods evacuated as strong storm threatens→

A "Smokey the Bear" cautionary sign. The U.S. Forest Service has changed the fire danger level in the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument to "very high." Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsElevated risk of wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties→

A Southern California Gas Company truck. Photographer: Lance DeLaura © 2015 Southern California Gas Company. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.Gas leak forces Glendora neighborhood evacuation→

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department cruiser.Shots fired, man barricades inside Norwalk home→

News from idealmedia.com

Advertisement

Get The Latest News by Email!

Sign up here for our free newsletters. We’ll send you the latest headlines every morning and every weekday afternoon.

 

FORECAST FOR DOWNTOWN LA

Partly Cloudy
Saturday
Partly cloudy. Lows overnight in the upper 50s.
Clear
Sunday
Sunny skies. High around 80F. Winds light and variable.
Wunderground.com
Complete Forecast      Current Temperatures

Most Popular Today

  • LAPD Officer Charged in Off-Duty Crash That Killed Three 400 views
  • Special Food Items Available For Dodgers-Nationals Games 400 views
  • Stormy Ride for Trump Buddy in LA Court: Will He Take the Fifth? 300 views
  • Trial Date Set for Pair Accused of Trying to Kill Teen 200 views
  • Murder, DUI Charges Hit LAPD Cop for Off-Duty Triple-Killing Crash 200 views

©2018 CalNews Inc.

Menu

  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service