Friday morning marks the end of the 2007 fire season, and what a season it’s been in Santa Barbara County.
There was, of course, the Zaca Fire, which consumed more than 240,000 acres of the county, the most in county history and the second-most ever in the state. But there were several other significant fires in the county as well, including September’s Mariposa Fire, which consume 170 acres near Gaviota, and the Cemetery Fire, which scorched more than 250 acres near Lompoc. If the wind had blown the other direction in that fire, Lompoc itself would’ve been threatened, according to Capt. Eli Iskow.
Outside Santa Barbara County, hundreds of homes in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties were destroyed by fire pushed by strong winds and allegedly started by careless people. “Historic fire data shows that wildfires are not only getting larger, but are also becoming more intense,” Iskow said in a statement. “Once again this year we saw several California records approached, and some broken, in regards to acres burned, property destroyed, and injuries and deaths of civilians and firefighters.”