Firefighters Urge Caution as Santa Barbara Residents Return Home

May 10, 2009— -- Wary Californians returned home to survey the damage wreaked by the Santa Barbara wildfires.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown lifted mandatory evacuations for most of the areas threatened by fire on Saturday. Many people moved back into their homes as fast as they had gotten out two days earlier. Many people had been living in Red Cross shelters or discounted hotel rooms for days.

With the Santa Barbara-area fires now at least 55 percent contained, about 21,000 of the 30,000 evacuees have been allowed back into their homes as of Sunday morning.

For many of these residents, firefighters are now their heroes. The Oatis family told ABC News that when the firefighters drive by they wave and yell, "Thank you!"

The number of homes destroyed has been revised downward, from a preliminary estimate of 80. It is now believed that around 31 homes were lost, and about 50 homes were damaged. The new goal is to have the fire fully contained by Wednesday.

In the hills, under favorable weather, firefighters were able to pick away at stubborn hot spots. Tom Franklin, Santa Barbara county fire chief, said there "were a lot of flare-ups" but that "the fire didn't really progress much at all."

However, officials warn it is too early to declare victory. Until the fire is fully contained and controlled, there's always a note of caution. Officials were quick to note that "we don't have this thing beat."

"I want to remind everybody that 55 percent contained means that 45 percent of it is not contained," Franklin said.

With a cap of fog and cool air over Santa Barbara, fire crews worked through the weekend 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," said Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Wallace Saturday. "Now we're gonna start chasing the fire, not have it chase us."

Officials have yet to identify what caused the raging fires.

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

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'

Area residents were told they could return home, but that didn't always mean they had a home to return to.

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 backyard, 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.

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.

On Saturday DiMizio thanked the efforts of those groups and the public, saying 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.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.