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Welcome to the WRA Website Our Mission is to provide a liaison between the mountain communities and public safety agencies, to support the volunteer fire departments and community safety activities. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR - 18 November 2008
CURRENT NEWS
RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST FRIDAY FOR THE SANTA YNEZ RANGE AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SOUTH COAST DUE TO GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD INTO NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TONIGHT IN THE WAKE OF A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM PASSING THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF GUSTY NORTHERLY SUNDOWNER WINDS TO THE SANTA YNEZ RANGE AND COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. MEANWHILE...HUMIDITY VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER INTO THE TEENS ACROSS WIND FAVORED LOCATIONS. THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS...LOWERING HUMIDITIES...AND CRITICALLY DRY FUELS HAS PROMPTED THIS RED FLAG WARNING. CAZ252-211800- RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST FRIDAY DUE TO GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES.. AREAS OF NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL DEVELOP THROUGH PASSES AND CANYONS IN THE SANTA YNEZ RANGE. THIS INCLUDES THE FOOTHILLS AREAS ABOVE MONTECITO. AT THE SAME TIME.. RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL BE NEAR OR FALL TO CRITICAL LEVELS WITH MINIMUM VALUES IN THE TEENS. A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT
CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL
SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND
WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL. PLEASE
ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OR FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS
RED FLAG WARNING.
Santa
Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown and Santa Barbara County Fire Chief
Tom Franklin announced a multi-agency investigation has determined
the cause of the Tea Fire. After
the start of the fire a task force was established consisting of:
US Forest Service, Cal-Fire, Santa Barbara County Fire, Ventura County
Fire, and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Dept. With the help of a critical lead provided through the SBSO's anonymous tip line investigators were able to identify ten young adults who were at the property know as the "Tea House" in the 700 Block of East Mountain Drive, on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
The task force determined that a bonfire started by the young adults was the origin of the Tea Fire. Although the young adults believed they had extinguished the bonfire, it is not uncommon for fires of this type to have an ignition potential for a few days. Due to the weather conditions on Thursday, the fire reignited.
At this time reports are being prepared and submitted to the District Attorney's office which will decide if any criminal charges will be filed.
U.S.
Forest Service and Santa Barbara County Fire Department investigators
announced that a suspect has been arrested on arson charges associated
with the Gap Fire. The suspect is sixteen years old and is in custody
in the Santa Barbara County juvenile detention facility in Santa Maria.
Charges will be filed with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's
Office. The County of Santa Barbara Tea Fire Call Center information line will close operations on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM. For general information questions, the public can call 2-1-1. For property owners only whose homes were lost or damaged, please call the Tea Fire Local Assistance Center: 805-897-2568 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM The County of Santa Barbara and the City of Santa Barbara wishes to thank all of the volunteers who staffed the Call Center The Boil Water Order has been lifted for the all residents affected. The only remaining mandatory evacuation area is: Gibraltar Road north of El Cielito
Road to East Camino Cielo Key Phone Numbers Road Closure Information Tea Fire Information is available
at the County of Santa Barbara website: www.countyofsb.org and the
City of Santa Barbara website: www.santabarbara.ca.gov
Community Alert airs on
Tuesday, 11 AM and 9 PM and again on Saturdays at 1 PM.
Work Continues
on Route 154 Improvements Route 154 Improvements
On the eastbound side of
Route 154, east of Painted Cave Road, the new turnout area is
open for use. On Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 24th and 25th, the turnout
will be temporarily closed to allow crews to install new metal
guardrail. During this time, reversing traffic control will be
in effect between 8:30am and 4pm. Travelers should expect intermittent
delays up to 15 minutes and are encouraged to use Hwy 101 unless
traveling to a destination along Hwy 154.
Forest
Service Reduces Gap Area Closure; For a map of the closure, and information regarding the Forest Service hydromulching operation, please visit the Gap BAER section of the Los Padres National Forest website here. CURRENT FIRE INFORMATION LINKS AUTOMATED ROAD CONDITIONS LINKS CALTRANS HIGHWAY STATUS LINK or call 800-427-7623 CHP Traffic Incidents CALTRANS VIDEO LINKS SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ROADS Current road information link EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION SOURCES In the event of a large emergency
or disaster, the County will work with all bona fide news organizations
to distribute emergency public information. The County's "Stations
of Choice" for emergency news include the following AM stations-KTMS-990;
KZSB-1290; KUHL-1410; KINF-1440, plus the San Marcos Pass Radio Station
SMPERS 1040 AM, and the following FM stations-KCSB-91.9; KSYV-96.7;
KTYD-99.9; KSBL-101.7 and KRAZ-105.9. In addition, the Spanish language
FM stations, KSPE-94.5 and KIST-107.7 are also designated "Stations
of Choice" in the cooperative agreement with the County.
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