Home › News › County News
Zaca fire grows to nearly 240,000 acres
STORY TOOLS 
More from County NewsThe seven-week-old Zaca fire grew to almost 240,000 acres Saturday as crews continued to battle pesky spot fires along two of the massive blaze's fronts.
The news there was good. Firefighters stopped the forward progress of a 300-acre spot fire along the west side of Highway 33 north of Brubaker Road on the fire's eastern fringes with the help of favorable wind conditions, said Larry Comerford, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. A small 30-acre spot fire near Cuyama Peak on the fire's northwest front should be out by today, Comerford said.
As of Saturday evening, the Zaca fire had burned 239,468 acres.
The blaze is 85 percent contained, and full containment is expected by Sept. 7.
North of Ojai, Highway 33 is now open south of Lockwood Valley Road to Wheeler Gorge, and the section from Quatal Canyon Road south to Lockwood Valley Road is open to residents only.
Posted by potatoebay on August 26, 2007 at 6:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
pconvery99, I would like to know 1) where are you getting your information? 2) what is your experience or qualifications in fighting fires?
Posted by lkn4fish on August 26, 2007 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
pconvery99 just can't let this one go. It's always the same post. "This fire has been mismanaged" & " They should of had this put out over a month ago". My favorite one though, is all his/her facts are based on"scientific reasoning".
pconvery99 are you saying yesterday was the first time they started water drops??
Posted by FatFreddy on August 26, 2007 at 3:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Weeks ago they had a chance to finish off the fire while it was still in Northern Santa Barbara County. I think back when it was about 50% - 60% contained. Instead the fire managers scaled back resources, ie: some planes, crews etc were sent home and left local fire to finish up. Then the fire "took off". There were some bad weather conditions one day, it was real windy and the fire just exploded that day and they lost control of it. Then it dropped back to only 30% contained. So instead of keeping the planes, copters and crews on it, they lost control and that's what pconvery99 is talking about. I don't know why it hasn't been mentioned in the Star here. I live up here in Northern Santa Barbara County and have been following the fire from the first day. Fire managers were expecting to have it under containment on August 7th, now it's supposed to be September 7th. The firefighters are doing a great job. And yes, someone in management did make a mistake, but now they're working their butt's off trying to get this thing put out.
Posted by lkn4fish on August 26, 2007 at 8:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
FatFreddy, I think what is continuously overlooked on trying to "contain" wildfires is weather, terrain, resources etc.. Even at 100% containment there is a chance winds could blow embers. At the time the Zaca Fire started, there were hundreds of fire personel an the "Rancho Fire" Just south of the Zaca Fire. There were also dozens of fires burning in all western states. I think it's irresponsible to blame fire management, not knowing what resources, terrain, and weather they had to deal with. There is still a chance this fire could explode again (lets hope and pray not). But just because they cut back fire personnel does not mean that the fire will be out soon! The people who think we are spending too much money on overtime and equipment will never be satisfied in my opinion. Just be thankful we live here with the best managed & trained fire personnel in the world. Just look at what Greece has to deal with!
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.