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My friends house survived the Santa Barbara Jesusita Fire!
The intensity and rapid spread of growth of the fire, fueled by down canyon "Sundowner or Santa Ana" winds took out dozens of multi-million dollar homes.
In the direct pathway was a very close friends house, affectionately called "Rancho Relaxo". Now that the fire has moved West, North and East... and still moving, not much is left but ruin and getting any kind of information right now is close to impossible.
During the past twenty plus years, we have had many discussions about how to provide fire protection for his house and the property. I was able to share principles of defensible space, fire retardant construction, fire protection, foam systems, standpipes and on and on...
Well, they listened and were able to calmly remove valuables from the house, point cars in the right direction (pointing out) and then foam the house... and then say goodbye, driving away not knowing if the house survived...
This morning, a friend was able to get access to the property and snapped these pix... The foaming operation worked, at least on the front of the structure. No word on the back side of the house... The carport and Jeep Cherokee took a hit... nothing around the house survived in intense heat and ferocity of this fire.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
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Wonder foam! We can I buy stock in the manufacturer's company? TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Brown on
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Thats good a friend took your work on this next time others will listen to your friend
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Permalink Reply by Jason McDonald on
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Wow, amazing pics! Please take care. Thanks for sharing the news, its not often we hear good news about things and this made my day. I am happy your friend is safe.
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I mean good news of being smart to have fire protection in place in case of emergencies and the house is not fried.
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Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on
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Good news about your friends house MIke, hope everything else is okay.
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Permalink Reply by Mick Shelley on
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It's always good to hear a positive story come out of such a unfortunate situation.
Thanks for sharing that with us. Stay safe brother.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Mike,
The preparations obviously paid off, and I'm happy for your friends.
The basics you discuss sound a lot like the ones we had regarding the recent, record-breaking wildfires in Australia.
Several of the things we discussed were putting the Class B fuels (propane, un-evacuated vehicles, etc.) well away from the structure, clearing defensible space, and Class A foam barricades, and the similar interface prep stuff you discussed above.
Obviously, these preparations work in a lot of cases, even when the homeowners don't practice Stay and Defend.
Now remind me...WHY do you want to live in the home of massive wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, and etc.??? :-)
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He probably want to live in California for the same reason that I miss Florida, its home, and home is where your happy. Even though there are dangers you still bear with it.
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Ben,
You forgot to mention crazy property values and bikini clad beach bunnies. If Mike is paying a mortgage then we now know why he lives there. TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Ben? I understand your last paragraph :-)
As alluded to by Mike and yourself, preparation is the key. It is never going to guarantee that any particular house will survive, but without it owners are simply trusting to luck.
Preparation has been the key we've been pushing for many years, but it doesn't mattter how much we try to educate people, so many simply will not listen. They choose to live in high risk areas and they won't listen - many seem perfectly willing to complain when everything goes bad though...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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This is the hard part of a wildland fire... mop up....
I guess things are looking better for Santa Barbara... but the facts and figures are changing as more information is compiled and recon is accomplished... there were many homes lost... but the continuing reports of heroic efforts by firefighters to save home after home were apparent by residents returning to their homes and seeing just how close the fire came to their home(s).
as of 17:30 hours on 05/10/2009 (Sunday PM)
55% Contained
8700 acres burned
31 homes destroyed
47 homes damaged
02 outbuildings destroyed
00 outbuildings damaged
Cost so far... 7.4 Million Dollars
Full containment expected by 05/13/2009
as of 23:00 hours on 05/10/2009 (Sunday PM)
65% Contained
8700 acres burned
77 homes destroyed
22 homes damaged
60 outbuildings destroyed
69 outbuildings damaged
Cost so far... 9 Million Dollars
Full containment expected by 05/13/2009
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this is an amazing home, I'm going to look for some photos I took when we used his house for wildland urban interface training! once again, train as if your life depends upon it proves it's value once again... and these were civilians who took the time to learn and purchase the tools necessary to successfully survive against incredible odds. the flame lengths were over 100-feet high...
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