Posted on July 4 at 8:44 p.m.

It's great to live in a third-world county.

On Update From Friday Afternoon Gap Fire Press Conference

Posted on August 24 at 9:58 a.m.

Early reports are coming in, and the overall picture is not good about the mosaic of unburned sites. The upper Sisquoc basin looks to have taken a 99%+ burnout, as did the Santa Cruz basin.

Thanks again for the detailed report, Ray, and Independent, please don't poop out on this storyline too soon. There is still a lot of fire in the back country, and Ray's articles have been indispensable in filling the huge information gaps left by public agencies.

On Zaca Fire May Be In Final Stages

Posted on August 21 at 11:39 p.m.

Tell that to a few hundred thousand animals that died horribly, lovechop.

On Zaca Fire May Be Contained Behind Santa Barbara Today

Posted on August 21 at 2:31 p.m.

This is a bright spot (for the upper Santa Ynez drainage) in an otherwise dismal story, thanks again for the very detailed reporting. Please do keep us informed on the NE and NW fronts henceforth -- topography, fuels and the likelihood of substantial wind changes N of Pine Mtn and W of hwy 33 make the NE sector very dicey, such that an unlucky afternoon there could run this thing to the Day fire boundary. Winds and topography (if not access) would appear to make the Sisquoc front more predictable and perhaps containable, if the resources remain available.

On Zaca Fire May Be Contained Behind Santa Barbara Today

Posted on August 20 at 10:53 a.m.

I'd also question the use of the word "containment" -- as best I can see, there is nothing of the sort on the NE in Deal, Ranch Nuevo and Tinta canyons, nor in the middle Sisquoc drainage.

On Zaca Fire One Dogleg Short of Containment

Posted on August 17 at 10:55 a.m.

Thanks again Ray for the detailed narrative -- your reporting fills a major gap in 'official' information releases, which all along have featured group hugs and the attitude that the public does not need to know details of what is going on. Scared and grateful, eh? How about incensed at the screw-ups at Zaca ridge and Mission Pine ridge that flung the door open to the entire back country.

On Battle to Hold Monte Arido Ridge

Posted on August 9 at 11:32 a.m.

It is always hard to get the back story fairly and straight in an incremental disaster like the Zaca fire, where the blind men and the elephant combine with cya and a range of narrow agendas. There seem to have been three windows of opportunity lost here (in Bell Canyon on the first and second day, at Zaca ridge on July 6-7, and at Mission Pine ridge between July 20th and 28th). Whether these were lost despite best efforts or for other reasons needs to be understood, because the threat and costs increased manyfold at each step as the fire moved into uncontrollable terrain. A fourth step is entirely possible.

Getting this straight is not about recrimination, but rather to support fire managers against accusations of having broken the budget by "overreacting" to a small fire with large potential. After all, that suppressed grass fire 25 miles away did not take out Montecito 6 weeks later, did it.

On Summing Up a Month of the Zaca Fire

Posted on August 6 at 11:18 p.m.

Once again, thank you Ray for your very detailed reporting, and the Independent for providing the platform -- the other local media have truely fallen down on the job. This is a big story that is far from over. As you say, there is nothing at all good about a 20 mile fire front entering the Mono drainage. I hope I am wrong about the nagging feeling that in better times USFS would have had the resources to stop the fire at Zaca Ridge, and again at Mission Pine ridge. Budget slashing has forced LPNF to be penny-wise, but what remains to be seen is how pound-foolish things get.

On Zaca Fire Heads into New Territory