Tea Fire Update

The Order of the Holy Cross at Mount Calvary on Gibraltar Rd. Have evacuated. Know that our prayers are with you (Especially our Westmont Kids) and we pray we may return to our beloved monastery soon. Holy Mary Protect Us! love, Brother Joseph

irresponsible and inexperienced photo caption: "now the Riviera is ablaze."

The Riviera Neighborhood of Santa Barbara is substantially further west, and a ridge line further south.

This area in the Tea Fire is called Eucalyptus Hill, El Cielito, and unincorporated areas in foothills above Montecito.

The fire's name is the 'Tea Fire', not the 'T' fire. It's named for an historic 1920's era landmark Tea Garden above the intersection of Mt. Drive and Cold Springs Rd.

My Google Map of key location including current evacuation info:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...

Our best wishes to all involved or near the fire, thanks to all the fire persons working so hard and risking their lives, take care be safe, and take the pets... leave the stuff.

I saw the beginning of this fire from the wharf. It is truly unbelievable how fast it spread. It is valuable for us to remember that a spark can jump and flare up in no time at all.

There are 36 SBCC students currently monitoring the fire from Hanoi, Vietnam on our study abroad trip. Many of us are concerned for our houses or for friends and family. Thank you for the updates and please keep up the good work. Good luck to everyone!

At this moment, the western flank indeed has encroached into what is called properly Riviera area of Santa Barbara.

Evacuation order now so far as far west as Alameda Padre Serra.

Few atheists tonight.

it's A historic 1920's era landmark....
...not An HISTORIC...
'H' is a consonant, not/not a vowel

Westmont alumni and parents all over the U.S. are praying tonight not only for Westmont but all of Montecito and Santa Barbara.

Thank you for your coverage. This campus, and the surrounding area, is home for many of us even though we not longer live there. We are glued to our computers.

Anyone know what is happening on Mtn. Dr. near the "reservoir"? We have evacuated and are anxious.

Also curious about Mountaini Drive area at El Cielito Road. My mom's house is there, she evacuated hours ago, but concerned about status of this area.

I've collected a lot of information and links about the fire here:

http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2008...

thanks for your good reporting.

Conditions on campus improved to the point where staff were able to get
food from the Dining Commons and bring it to the gym, where the
community is sheltered in place.

Conditions in the area may make it possible now to leave the campus for
a Red Cross shelter, but that option is still being explored.
Firefighters are currently attempting to put out several fires at Clark
Hall. Structures lost to or significantly damaged by fire include the
Physics Building, the 'old Math" building, Bauder Hall and the Quonset
Huts.

Again, we are grateful that no one has been hurt on campus, and everyone
is safely in the gymnasium and in good spirits.

Thank you for your prayers.

Chris Call,
Vice President for Administration, Westmont

Be careful about clicking on mystery links, some of them take you to sites that seem to infect the computer. One was porn related. It was reported.

It's an honor to point out that 'an historic' works just fine, just like 'an honor,' since in both cases the 'h' is deemed silent, unpronounced. If you look at a history (pronounced 'h') of the area, you will learn about an historic (un- or less-pronounced 'h') tea garden.
'nuff said!
My thoughts are with those who lost homes in the Tea Fire, and the firefighters fighting to limit further loss!

Does anyone know if the old El Mirador estate is OK? 800 Cold Springs Road. Thanks.

We need Oprah to come here and do her show "live from Santa Barbara"!

Best wishes to all...

Once again your fire department lost the fight! Don't tell me they did everything they could because if they had not one home would have been lost. Instead 100 homes have been lost. When are you people going to wake up! There methods are Stone Age. Normally when procedures don't work you began to think outside the box and come up with ones that do work. Within 20 minutes of the first alarm there could have been ten DC 10 type fire bombers over that fire. If our military can bomb at night then it is possible. What ever it is we need to hit these fires fast and "WITH OVERWELMING FORCE", And figure out a way to do it no matter what it takes, or just continue putting up with our fire departments getting there asses kicked, JUST LIKE THEY ARE NOW, fire after fire…. Losers!

I wish people who leave comments would actually use their head before they start "ranting." Unless they are on the front lines fighting this fire, everyone needs to stop complaining about how the fire is not being contained. If the fire fighter were not doing their job up in the hills there would have been a lot more houses burned and possibly even deaths, so overall I consider our city relatively lucky.
If anyone needs more information check these websites-

http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents_T...
http://www.countyofsb.org/ceo/oes0.aspx?...
http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...

It's probably not PC to say so but Rant_Abarbara is absolutely correct and I for one am grateful that someone else has the guts to come out and say it. It's about time everyone stops this this self-congratulatory, delusional "feel good" nonsense and DOES SOMETHING meaningful about what has happened so that it isn't repeated yet again. The city had 30 years to do something meaningful to deal with EXACTLY what happened and it failed to do a damn thing. We supported our firefighters, voted for every additional funding measure requested, participated in all the evacuation drills, the reverse 911 trials, pruned back our trees and plants and did everything else that was asked or we were told, ad nauseum, but when the time came, the City of Santa Barbara totally failed or was unable to provide the most basic protections needed. None of this was unforeseeable. Am I bitter - yes. Our home just burned to the ground together with almost every worldly possession we have collected over the 50+ years of our lives (yes, we are OK, that's all that matters, blah blah blah). Nothing anyone can say or do will ever cure, reverse or even salve what has happened, the harm and heartache we are suffering - the damage that has been done to us, our friends and neighbors is incalculable and permanent - that's just the way it is. Honesty about what happened and what needs to be done is badly needed so this doesn't happen to others in the future. For us, it's simply too late.

I really feel bad for everyone that will be effected by this tragedy. It is very sad. I just moved to Oregon not to long ago after living in Santa Barbara for most of my life. I just had to leave Santa Barbara, the city and county are way out of touch with reality. There is just too much focus on beatifying Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara county is a hotspot for fires. Always has been. The local government was not prepared for this at all. Not to mention California's resources and the federal Gov. is stretched thin right now. Oh, and people please if I misspelled something don't waste your time correcting me. I don't care, I could’ve spell checked it if this was an English test. Oh, p.s. rant_abarbara i love your name.

Dang that sucks. I just moved outta Santa Barbara california. Too expensive, to much of a gap between the rich and poor. Too bad the city spends all their time making the city all fancy for the tourists. The locals need better emergency infastructure and planning from the local government. I remember 3 or 4 or 5 years ago there were mud slides that closed 101 south and 101 north going out of SB and Comming into SB. Another example of not being preparied people were stuck for days. With supplies for grocery stores and emergency aid had to be flown in. Oh, well I'm glad to be out of there. Hope you all get a clue to move too. SB isn't all it's cracked up to be.