Sundowner winds stymie fire crews as Alisal Fire explodes past 13,000 acres

GOLETA >> There’s a time of year many Santa Barbara County residents fear, when the warm ocean breezes that typically meander in from the coast give way to howling winds that rattle oak trees, carry clouds of dust and deliver the potential for disaster.

The fearsome sundowner winds, which race down the slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains toward the sea, are exclusive to the area’s topography and have stoked some of its worst wildfires, including the 2016 Sherpa Fire, which seared 7,500 acres in less than three days.

It looked as though history might repeat itself Tuesday, as the Alisal Fire swelled to more than 13,000 acres, marking Southern California’s first major wildfire of the season.

The blaze was fueled by drought-parched terrain and 40 mph gusts, conditions that made for challenging firefighting efforts, officials said. After sunset Tuesday, the Alisal Fire was 5% contained, and the winds began to strengthen again.

The fire, whose cause remains unknown, was sparked around 2:30 p.m. Monday. Within hours, winds had propelled the blaze south toward the 101 Freeway, officials said, where it later jumped the asphalt barrier in multiple places.

The Sherpa Fire “did the same thing,” said Tom Himmelrich, a battalion chief with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. “It started at the top of the mountain under sundowner winds, and it blew all the way down here.”

By Tuesday morning, authorities had evacuated hundreds of homes, canceled area Amtrak services and closed a stretch of the freeway as flames tore through the fine grasses and dense chaparral on the hillsides.

The winds and smoke were so heavy that some fixed-wing firefighting planes couldn’t fly, Himmelrich said — leaving hand crews and helicopters working rapidly to protect what they could.

At the top of one hillside property, about 15 firefighters — among roughly 600 battling the blaze — hacked at the bone-dry hillside with hoes and chain saws as thick smoke billowed from just beyond the ridge.

Himmelrich said some areas in Alisal’s path haven’t burned since the Refugio Fire in 1955, so there is “a lot of dead fuel mixed in there,” but the strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation were spurring most of the growth — much as they did for other wildfires this year.

The sundowners can arrive throughout the year but cause the most dread during fire season. California’s Santa Ana and Diablo winds often arrive in the fall, leaving some officials worried that there could be much more of the fire season to come.

Officials said most of the homes threatened by the Alisal Fire on Tuesday were in Refugio Canyon, although evacuation orders and warnings spanned from Gaviota to Naples. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services reported that the evacuation orders affect thousands of residents.

Among the properties that were uncomfortably close to the flames was Rancho del Cielo, once a vacation home for President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy.

Brian and Tracy Stuart, owners of a 20-acre property known as Gaia Farm, followed the updates from a relative’s house in Santa Barbara after the fire forced them to leave.

The couple keep cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, rabbits and other livestock at their farm. They were able to evacuate some of the animals, but not all, Monday and Tuesday with the help of Santa Barbara Animal Services.

“I’ve got a barn full of baby chickens right now,” Brian Stuart said, “and if it comes through there …”

He couldn’t finish the thought.

They weren’t the only ones whose precious belongings were left hanging in the balance.

At an evacuation center at Dos Pueblos High School, Stefanie Alboff and her wife, Stacey Meredith, sat with their 5-year-old son, Nash, unsure what to do.

The trio had been camping at Refugio State Beach since last Thursday and left their trailer Monday afternoon to venture to a nearby restaurant. At the time, they had no idea they wouldn’t be able to return.

“When we left, there was no fire,” Alboff said. “We were only gone a few hours — that’s how fast it happened.”

The trailer holds everything they brought with them on their trip from the Sacramento area, they said, including their wedding rings.

“The most important thing is we’re all safe,” Alboff said as her son colored in a worksheet. But the second-most-important thing was Frankie, his teddy bear, left waiting for him in the trailer.

The winds, paired with heavy smoke, prompted an air-quality watch in Santa Barbara County, with officials warning that gusts could stir up dust and ash.

Kathy Brown Tammietti, who evacuated from her ranch Monday, along with her husband, father and dog, said it was “like déjà vu,” because they were at the same hotel they stayed at when the Sherpa fire forced them to evacuate in 2016.

“It’s like a replay of everything that happened,” she said.

Her grandmother founded their ranch, Circle Bar B, in 1939, and over the years the property has hosted weddings, conferences and other events.

“We took whatever we could,” Brown Tammietti said.