Evacuated animals return to owners
Equine Evac housed horses, a pony and goats at Earl Warren Showgrounds until being deactivated Monday.
The Alisal Fire is 87% contained as of firefighters’ evening update, and the blaze covers 17,254 acres.
Over 1,300 personnel assisted Monday. A total of 30 aircraft have been utilized, but some assets may be released in coming days as some areas focus on repair.
Crews increased the reported number of structures damaged in the fire to: 10 residences destroyed, one residence damaged and one minor structure damaged. A full assessment is estimated to be completed Wednesday evening.
The Alisal Fire has charred the mountainous terrain, as seen from Refugio Road.
Chris Childers, Santa Barbara County Battalion Chief and member of California Interagency Incident Management Team 1, started Monday’s operations with a positive outlook. “We think we have a pretty good handle on the fire,” he said.
There are few hot spots aside from consistent patches of heat in the northwest corner of the fire. The team’s goal Monday was to keep the fire within its footprint.
The area west of Arroyo Hondo to the intersection of Hwy 101 and Hwy 1, the Arroyo Hondo Canyon and Refugio Canyon, and the area between El Capitan Beach State Park and West Camino Cielo is limited to residents and those on official business only. Others may be cited by law enforcement.
All the animals evacuated to emergency shelters were picked up by their owners over the past couple days. Santa Barbara County Animal Services deactivated Santa Barbara Equine Assistance & Evac Team Inc., or “Equine Evac,” on Monday.
Equine Evac coordinated the safe evacuation and shelter of 138 animals: horses, a pony and goats. Animal Services housed 42 animals in its Goleta location: chickens, dogs and a cockatiel.
Animal Services is keeping its hotline open for evacuees of the Alisal Fire, at (805) 681-4332.
Animal Disasters Coordinator Jessica Wiebe said staff members are taking gallons of water to properties and filling troughs. The power is out on Refugio Road, so residents can’t start up well pumps.
Ms. Wiebe said Animal Services is working on dispatching a water truck to the area, and the Office of Emergency Services is assisting.
email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
