Posted on 06/05/2004 10:53:08 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
BREAKING NEWS: Brushfire Threatens Structures in Santa Barbara County More than 5,500 acres are burning on both sides of highway 101, near Gaviota State Beach. Southbound and Northbound lanes are closed. All train traffic coming through the area has been canceled after a train trestle burned down in Miraposa Canyon. Fire officials have evacuated both Hollister Ranch and Gaviota State Beach. Officials tell Key News fires are burning on the Shell oil refinery grounds as well. The refinery is shut down while crews try to protect the structures. Jun 5, 2004, 22:00:00
BTTT!!
I'll just sit here, stunned.
the Pope will be next...you watch.
the Soviets shot him, but Reagan and Pope John Paul II outlasted four Soviet leaders (the Pope, six)
Don't worry .. the state fire service will protect the ranch. Plus they probably have some local equipment at the ranch.
Unreal.
In the mid 80's I was invited to the Reagan ranch to see how the Secret Service used satellite communications equipment I had designed. I was in my early twenties... Seems like a life time ago...
He will be missed.
Officials tell Key News fires are burning on the Shell oil refinery grounds as well. The refinery is shut down while crews try to protect the structures. Jun 5, 2004, 22:00:00
Another reason to raise gas prices.
Reagan's Ranch was intentionally targeted?? unreal.
6/6/04 A fire roared through more than 5,000 acres near Gaviota Saturday, forcing residents to evacuate as the flames jumped over Highway 101 and burned toward the sea - with no end to the burning in sight.
The blaze was not contained late Saturday night with at least 200 firefighters battling it, and the cause was under investigation, according to Capt. Charlie Johnson of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Johnson said firefighters expect to be battling the fire for days.
Highway 101 was closed in both directions, from Buellton to Winchester Canyon - and will remain closed indefinitely. Power lines were down and rocks were on the roadway, Johnson said.
The oil refinery at the Mariposa Reina exit was threatened, and all railroad activity between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara was stopped until further notice, Johnson said. About 500 acres burned in Los Padres National Forest, he added.
Staff writer Erin Carlyle can be reached at 739-2218 or by e-mail at ecarlyle@pulitzer.net.
Fires burn in this area all of the time...there's tons of scrub oak, eucalyptus (highly volatile) and other brush that nature hasn't been able to take care of over time due to environmental restrictions. With sea breezes coming inland, they burn easterly over the hills often jumping over US Hwy 101. Quite possibly, this may have been sparked by a passing train with a locked or hot wheel bearing.
Well, it is upslope from the fire....I dont think it was targeted.
Thank Heavens. I hope to some day have the ability to visit the Ranch... Praying for the firemen to safely get this under control!
Brush fire closes 101
By Erin Carlyle - Staff Writer
6/6/04 A fire roared through more than 5,000 acres near Gaviota Saturday, forcing residents to evacuate as the flames jumped over Highway 101 and burned toward the sea - with no end to the burning in sight.
The blaze was not contained late Saturday night with at least 200 firefighters battling it, and the cause was under investigation, according to Capt. Charlie Johnson of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Johnson said firefighters expect to be battling the fire for days.
Highway 101 was closed in both directions, from Buellton to Winchester Canyon - and will remain closed indefinitely. Power lines were down and rocks were on the roadway, Johnson said.
The oil refinery at the Mariposa Reina exit was threatened, and all railroad activity between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara was stopped until further notice, Johnson said. About 500 acres burned in Los Padres National Forest, he added.
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2004/06/06/news/news09.txt
Some additional info in this article:
Calif. wildfire scorches 5,000 acres
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2004-06-06-calif-wildfires_x.htm
GAVIOTA, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire in Southern California scorched more than 5,000 acres Saturday and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from a gated community nearby, authorities said.
The flames spread quickly through a line of narrow canyons and steep hillsides covered with dense, old-growth brush, burning on both sides of Highway 101 about 27 miles north of Santa Barbara.
More than 200 firefighters battled the blaze, which was reported shortly before noon, said Charlie Johnson, spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Waves of thick, black smoke and fiery embers cut visibility on the freeway to zero, forcing authorities to divert traffic on a roughly 3-mile-long stretch of the highway in both directions. The highway was expected to remain closed for several hours.
Officials had no immediate estimate of when the fire could be contained.
About 500 people in roughly 200 homes in the community of Hollister Ranch were evacuated, Johnson said. No injuries were immediately reported.
At least one structure, part of an abandoned school, was damaged by flames. The Arguello and Shell Oil refineries were threatened, but firefighters were able to protect them, spokesman Jan Purkett said.
A section of the Union Pacific Railroad railway between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara was closed because several trestles were damaged by the fire.
http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=2921&mode=sequential&flags=0
Pretty sure this is one of the trestles damaged. I heard one was bad...but that last article said several.
Oops.
There is an empty oilcan train south of there waiting to go to Wunpost ( http://rlehmer.50megs.com/photos/SP/postmerger/sp203_santamargarita-1.html ) This train moves 1,000,000 gallons of oil every three days between San Ardo and the LA Refineries....you miss a couple of those shipments and there may indeed be a spike in gas prices!
I messed up...the train has 72 cars with 20,000 gallons each, so, 1.4 million gallons per trip....or a lot of oil changes!
Incident: 0271 Type: Report of Fire Location: NB US101 JNO GAVIOTA TUNNEL Map Page: Info as of: 6/6/2004 1:43:10 AM
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
1:24AM - INFO FOR LPD ADV THEM NO NEW INFO AND THEY CAN 1022 MANNING THE BARRICADES WILL BW ENUFF 1039 LPD
1:15AM - WILL TAKE APPROX 4-5 DAYS TO CONTAIN FIRE
Very cool.
When was the last time you heard about train trestles burning?
And it hasn't been dry lately.
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