Gap Update, Saturday Evening
Called 'Fairly Inactive'; estimated containment, July 16
[Source: InciWeb report 8:20 p.m. Saturday]
Location: 3.5 miles north of Goleta
Current Situation
Total Personnel: 899
Size: 9,443 acres
Percent Contained: 85 percent
Estimated Containment Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 approx. 12 am
Fuels Involved: 4 Chaparral (6 feet) Mature (50-55 yrs old) chaparral, 15-20 ft tall. (last time burned 1955 Refugio Fire)
Fire Behavior: Fire behavior fairly inactive. Occasional open flame, mostly smoldering in isolated spots within the fire perimeter.
Significant Events
Mop up along perimeter in divisions Alpha (north), Yankee, Zulu(northwest), and Xray (west) using support from helicopter bucket drops. Crews continue to make good progress constructing direct handline in divisions Yankee and Zulu. Crews are rehabing firelines along the West Camino Cielo Road.
Outlook
Planned Actions: Continue mop up along West Camino Cielo Road in Division Alpha (north) and improve lines in Divisions Alpha (north), Zulu, and Yankee (northwest). Crews are rehabing fire lines on the West Camino Cielo Road.
Growth Potential: Medium
Terrain Difficulty: Extreme
Remarks: Twenty-five personnel were treated in fire camp today for mild to severe poison oak.
Headlines:
* The Forest Service, along with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, is investigating the cause of the Gap Fire. Please call the 24-hour “tip line” at (805) 961-5710 if you have any information about this fire.
Current Status:
* Crews found a few hot spots on the fire during the day, primarily in the interior and on the northwest side.
* Crews monitored and held the direct attack line from West Camino Cielo Road west along the fire edge. They improved and mopped up control lines on the north, east, south, and southwest. Retardant drops assisted firefighters on the steep and rugged terrain on the northwest side.
* Lower temperatures and higher relative humidity helped to moderate fire behavior today, although there is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
* Personnel are on lookout for, and will aggressively attack, any spot fires outside control lines.
* A doctor was in fire camp today to evaluate and treat poison oak cases.
Evacuations:
* The evacuation warning for the Goleta Valley and the area west of Eagle Canyon west to El Capitan Canyon has been cancelled. This includes Dos Pueblos Canyon, Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos Ranches.
* A MANDATORY evacuation remains in effect for West Camino Cielo west of the Windermere Ranch to the actual fire area.
* Current evacuation warnings include West Camino Cielo, Kinevan Road area, Windermere Ranch, Haney Tract, Hidden Valley, and Trout Club.
Weather
Current Wind Conditions: 16 (gusts) mph S
Current Temperature: 71 degrees
Current Humidity: 50 percent
