Timeline Stories

An act of arson, the Romero Fire was started on October 6, 1971, when a man threw an improvised fire bomb onto the steep dry slopes off Bella Vista Drive. The fire was reported about 30 minutes later when the smoke became visible in the hills behind Montecito and Summerland. The Forest Service responded, with the aid of Montecito and Carpinteria firefighters; however it was immediately apparent that the fire had already grown out of control. By the next morning the fire had burned all the way through Toro Canyon, threatening Carpinteria.

The Sycamore Fire began on July 26, 1977, in the midst of prolonged drought and high temperatures. The fire began at approximately 7:30 p.m. after a man lost control of a metal-framed kite that became entangled in power lines near Coyote Road and East Mountain Drive. The kite’s line caused an electric arc to shower the underlying brush with sparks. With reported 90 mph gusts, the fire quickly spread, engulfing houses along Mountain Drive.

The winter of 1983 brought strong storms and unusually high surf to the Southern California coast. On the back of a record breaking El Niño, a series of storms lashed the coast, damaging numerous structures from Padaro Lane to Miramar Beach, as well as Stearns Wharf and Santa Barbara Harbor.

The Wheeler Fire broke out on July 1, 1985, when an arsonist ignited bushes in Wheeler Gorge, located about 15 miles northwest of Ojai. At the time it began, several other severe fires were burning throughout California and resources were stretched dangerously thin. Although the fire is reported immediately, logistical and communication issues delayed response, and by the time firefighters arrived, the fire had already spread wildly out of control.

The Paint Fire — more commonly referred to as the Painted Cave Fire — began on June 27, 1990, and was the most intense and destructive fire to burn the Santa Barbara area in decades. The month of June had been unusually hot and dry. The temperature on the day of the fire reached 109 degrees, and gusting winds maxed out at 75 mph. Stemming from a property dispute, the fire was started intentionally around 6 p.m. near Highway 154 and Painted Cave Road.

The winter of 1995 saw two major storm-related flooding events — first on January 10 , the second on March 10. Both caused significant flooding of creeks along the South Coast and shut down road and rail transportation for several hours.

The flooding events of 1998 arrived on a strong El Niño and occurred throughout the month of February.

The Zaca fire began on July 4, 2007, deep in the Santa Ynez Mountains, when a rancher accidentally ignited dry brush with sparks from a metal grinder. Firefighters arrived quickly but the fire had already spread up the steep canyon into the difficult terrain of Zaca Ridge. Over the next few days the fire spread rapidly into Los Padres National Forest and the San Rafael Wilderness.

Started on July 1 as an act of arson, the Gap Fire quickly became the most dangerous fire to hit the Santa Barbara front country since 1990’s Paint Fire. When firefighters arrived to West Camino Cielo Road, the blaze had spread less than a quarter of an acre and was nearly extinguished before a sudden wind gust caused the fire to spread rapidly toward Goleta. Nearly 200 personnel accompanied by helicopters and bulldozers were sent out to fight the flames and began evacuations of La Patera and Glen Annie canyons.

Short-lived but devastating, the Tea Fire began on the evening of November 13 in the dry hills of the eponymous Tea Gardens, part of a long-abandoned Montecito estate. The blaze started when strong sundowner winds reignited the smoldering remains of an illegal bonfire from the previous night.