SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Relieved to see their ash-covered houses still intact, grateful homeowners are paying tribute to firefighters by tooting car horns and posting large thank-you signs on their lawns.
The firefighters, who began to get the upper hand over the weekend on a blaze that destroyed dozens of homes, were just as quick to share the credit.
They say if residents of the hillside homes ringing Santa Barbara hadn’t been aggressive in clearing brush and plants from their property, hundreds of homes, not just 31, could have been lost.
"More homes would have burned had they not done their defensible space work,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said.
The fire also has damaged 47 homes and forced about 30,000 people to flee.
All but about 350 evacuees were allowed to return home Sunday.
The remaining evacuees live in remote canyon areas closest to the flames.
Investigators on Sunday also asked for help trying to find out how the blaze began. They believe it was sparked by a power tool used to clear vegetation.
Officials are asking the public for help in identifying who was clearing brush in the area adjacent to the Jesusita Trail — where the fire began — on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
Amid cooler weather in Santa Barbara on Sunday, more than 4,500 firefighters worked feverishly to contain as much of the blaze as they could before the hot, dry winds that pushed flames on homes earlier in the week return, possibly as early as today.
by the associated press
The firefighters, who began to get the upper hand over the weekend on a blaze that destroyed dozens of homes, were just as quick to share the credit.
They say if residents of the hillside homes ringing Santa Barbara hadn’t been aggressive in clearing brush and plants from their property, hundreds of homes, not just 31, could have been lost.
"More homes would have burned had they not done their defensible space work,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said.
The fire also has damaged 47 homes and forced about 30,000 people to flee.
All but about 350 evacuees were allowed to return home Sunday.
The remaining evacuees live in remote canyon areas closest to the flames.
Investigators on Sunday also asked for help trying to find out how the blaze began. They believe it was sparked by a power tool used to clear vegetation.
Officials are asking the public for help in identifying who was clearing brush in the area adjacent to the Jesusita Trail — where the fire began — on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
Amid cooler weather in Santa Barbara on Sunday, more than 4,500 firefighters worked feverishly to contain as much of the blaze as they could before the hot, dry winds that pushed flames on homes earlier in the week return, possibly as early as today.
by the associated press
No comments:
Post a Comment