8:12 a.m. PDT Oct. 13, 2021
Wednesday morning the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said the Alisal Fire 12 miles northwest of Goleta, California has burned 14,500 acres, an increase of 1,100 acres over the figure released Tuesday evening. The growth over the last 24 hours has been on all sides, with the exception, of course, where the fire was stopped by the Pacific Ocean on the south.
The east side of the fire has burned into Sherpa Fire of 2016. During the 9:45 p.m. mapping flight Tuesday the strong winds and low fuel moisture helped it to spread two miles into the five-year-old footprint.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Alisal Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
Highway 101, the Pacific Railroad, and Amtrak lines remain closed and evacuations are still in effect. (More information about evacuations.)
On Wednesday fire officials expect to have working on the fire 5 air tankers, 6 helicopters, and a total of 1,300 personnel.
The spot weather forecast produced for the incident calls for 5-10 mph northeast winds Wednesday morning, becoming south to southwest at 5 to 10 mph by noon, then changing to come out of the northwest after 6 p.m. at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 35. The humidity will be in the upper teens until it begins to rise in the afternoon. The standard NWS local forecast for the area is a little different.
Firefighters expect to have winds on Wednesday that will allow the use of fixed and rotor wing aircraft at least part of the day.
Additional footage of SBCASU Copter 3 working the Alisal Fire. pic.twitter.com/RLVSEMK7Rd
— Daniel Bertucelli (@SBCFireInfo) October 12, 2021
7:09 p.m. PDT Oct. 12, 2021
The wind slowed a bit late in the afternoon Tuesday, enough to allow fixed wing air tankers to work the Alisal Fire. At one point there were three over the fire and another four at the Santa Maria Airport 31 miles to the northwest. Helicopters have also been dropping water.
Most of the air tanker activity was on the west side, which corresponds with heat detected in that area by a satellite at 2:55 p.m. PDT. A weather station on Alisal Road recorded winds coming from the north-northwest, north, and north-northeast gusting around 20 mph hour between noon and 4:20 p.m. This could have caused more growth to the west.
The 2:55 p.m. satellite data showed significant growth on both the east and west sides Tuesday.
Fire officials said Tuesday evening the fire had burned 13,400 acres, almost double the last update.
The satellite photo below was taken during a period when the wind was from the north-northeast or northeast, but it did not last long.
1:27 p.m. PDT Oct. 12, 2021
The Alisal Fire 22 miles west of Santa Barbara, California has been very active Tuesday. It is still being driven by winds out of the northwest, 18 mph gusting at 27 to 34 mph. The relative humidity has been plummeting since a high of 63 percent at 5 a.m., dropping to 15 percent at 12:06 p.m.
The wind is expected to remain strong until about midnight when it should decrease to 3 mph out of the north, then increase at 11 a.m. Wednesday to 17 mph gusting to 23 out of the northwest.
Various official government sources said Tuesday morning it had burned 6,000 or 7,000 acres. That range was appropriate early Tuesday morning, but the activity and spread showing up in photos and cameras since then lead one to believe it is significantly larger as this is written at 1 p.m.
Helicopters joined the fire fight Tuesday morning, but fixed wing air tankers remained grounded by the strong winds. A small air attack plane has been orbiting over the fire, and has spent a lot of time as far east as El Capitan State Beach.
Highway 101 is closed in the area and evacuations are in effect. An interactive evacuation map is available at arcg.is/1zO4m8.
The blaze is less than a mile from the Regan Ranch (see map below). Santa Barbara County Fire said Tuesday morning the ranch has good defensible space and several Forest Service engines were going to provide structure protection. A few weeks ago a new long-term fire retardant designed to be applied from the ground was used at the ranch.
7:22 a.m. PDT Oct. 12, 2021
It took about three hours Monday afternoon for the Alisal Fire to run three miles downhill to Highway 101 at the Southern California coast, 25 miles west-northwest of Santa Barbara. Soon after that it jumped the four-lane freeway and approached the Pacific Ocean beach, threatening the Union Pacific railroad and homes along the coast.
Since the fire started at 2:30 p.m. Monday about two miles south of the Alisal Reservoir, it has been pushed by a strong wind out of the northwest. In this area where the coast runs east and west, the fire hit the coast and then spread more slowly to the east.
The forecast for Tuesday morning is for wind out of the northwest at 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 30, increasing in the afternoon to 15 to 20 gusting to 35. The relative humidity will be 16 to 22 percent and the high temperature will be around 70.
These predicted conditions could allow the fire to keep spreading to the east. However, it is likely to move into the footprint of the 2016 Sherpa Fire, and beyond that, the 2017 Whittier Fire. These five and six year-old burns probably have enough fuel to support additional spread. If the wind was not strong firefighters might be able, with help from air tankers and helicopters, to stop it in these footprints. But on Monday the fire behavior was described as extreme, with wind-driven runs and long-range spotting — and the access is difficult.
Late Monday evening fire officials said it had burned 3,900 acres, but additional movement during the night probably doubled the size.
One of the objectives of the incident management team suppressing the fire is to “keep it north of the Pacific Ocean.” It is likely they will accomplish that goal.
Hi, Mr. Gabbert, just in case you hadn’t noticed, the New York Times has a multimedia story up about the Dixie fire, headline “INSIDE THE MASSIVE AND COSTLY FIGHT TO CONTAIN THE DIXIE FIRE”.
I hope this will generate awareness on the necessity to spend more on firefighting and prevention!
This morning’s news and notes says 7000 acres. Web cam this morning shows it still with extreme ROS. Great Pacific Fuel Break doing it’s job, but flanks will be a pain. No aircraft will be a challenge. Type 1 team on order. Hopefully old burn scars will help. ?