Firefighters Make Headway in Santa Barbara Fire, Residents to Return Home

May 9, 2009— -- With the Santa Barbara, Calif.-area fires at least 30 percent contained, more than half of the 30,000 residents who evacuated their homes were told today that they can start to return.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown lifted mandatory evacuations for most of the areas threatened by fire. And after he did, many people moved back into their homes as fast as they had gotten out two days earlier.

Santa Barbara County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Hahn had said that officials were "working hard to make sure it's safe enough" for residents to go back home.

With a cap of fog and cool air over Santa Barbara, fire crews were putting out hot spots and trying to extend containment of the fire before the wind blows again.

"We're going from a defensive for the past few days to now an offensive," Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Wallace said. "Now we're gonna start chasing the fire, not have it chase us."

Officials have yet to identify what caused the raging fires that have consumed at least 80 houses, with the homes of more than 3,500 other residents still under threat.

Residential areas have been helped by higher humidity and cooler temperatures, which create more moist vegetation, officials said.

As of Saturday morning, the fire was 30 percent contained, up from 10 percent Friday. Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio said during a press conference today that the highlight of his career was seeing the northern border contained.

Although conditions are improving, Hahn warned, "Just because the weather's better doesn't mean we're out of the woods. Our guard is up and always will be up."

'Old Furniture, Beautiful Stuff, All Gone'

Just because area residents were told they could return home, that didn't mean they had a home to return to. Dozens of homes were destroyed.

Janet Wienpaul and her late husband built their hilltop home in 1950. It's gone.

"My possessions that I was going to give to my family and friends, old furniture, beautiful stuff, all gone," she said.

"Look mom, oh, it's all broken," added her adult daughter, Jan, who lived with her. "A nice old ceramic cup that a friend had given us. There's nothing useable."

But just down the hill, Klaus Graf and Lynelle Paulick had a sprinkler system covering their property and rode it out inside their house.

"I was thinking we're dead," Paulick said. "I kissed him on the lips and said 'Bye doll, it's been nice.'"

He took pictures as the fire approached, then wrapped around the house.

"And it just covered us, and the flames just -- 'shhhh' -- whipped around and kept moving," he said. "And as soon as the flames were gone, we came outside and the flames were continuing to move that way. We ran out and started putting out spot fires in the back yard, and on the side and the front."

When the fire had passed, he was able to take photographs as neighboring houses burned.

"But they went slowly," he said. "That one, then that one, then that one, and then all of them engulfed. And then the whole place was just on fire all the way around."

'The Whole Mountain Looked Like an Inferno'

Earlier, shifting winds had caused the fire to split: Some fronts moved both east and west in the mountains. Narrow roads, difficult terrain, and the fast-moving fire made it impossible to save every house. As of today the fire has charred 8,700 acres.

"It's crazy. The whole mountain looked like an inferno," Maria Martinez, 50, told The Associated Press.

She left her home in San Marcos Pass with her fiance and went to an evacuation center at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

More than 30,000 people fled the fierce wildfire along Santa Barbara County's picturesque coastal mountain slopes and thousands more were urged to be ready to leave on a moment's notice.

With more than 4,000 firefighters on site, 14 air tankers, 15 helicopters and a DC-10, it was the largest mutual aid deployment in the history of Santa Barbara County.

The coordinated response included not only firefighters but animal control, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the Red Cross, the California Highway Patrol and the state Department of Fish and Game.

DiMizio said thanks to the efforts of those groups and the public, they have "turned a significant corner."

Local winds called "sundowners" were likely responsible for transforming what had been a small wildfire into a dangerous blaze that destroyed several multimillion-dollar homes.

Many people had been living in Red Cross shelters or discounted hotel rooms for days.

There are 13 injuries to date, most of them minor. One of three hospitalized firefighters, who suffered from smoke inhalation, was released today.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.