The Jesusita Fire was a wildfire that started on May 5, 2009 in the hills of

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

in the western United States. By the time the fire was contained on May 18 it had burned , destroyed 80 homes and damaged 15 more before being 100% contained. The cause of the fire was ultimately traced to local contractors who had left gas cans and hot equipment unattended in dry brush after clearing part of the Jesusita Trail using a weed wacker without any permits or the permission of the landowner.

Events

The fire began at approximately 1:45 p.m. on May 5, along the Jesusita Trail just below Cathedral Peak in the Santa Barbara foothills. Despite being alerted to the fire within minutes of its ignition, no fire department officers or equipment were on site until after 17:00 giving the fire over three hours to expand. Within a matter of hours the fire had grown to with

sundowner wind A sundowner is a northerly offshore wind in California along the southern Pacific slope of Santa Ynez Mountains, in communities along the Gaviota Coast and Santa Barbara towards but not including Ventura County. Formation It occurs when a regi ...

s expected. Officials issued mandatory evacuations for approximately 1,200 homes in the hills above Santa Barbara. By Monday, May 8, the fire perimeter extended from west of Highway 154, in the hills burned in the 1990 Painted Cave Fire, across the front country of the Santa Ynez Mountains east through Mission Canyon, Rattlesnake Canyon, and into the hills above Montecito, reaching the area burned by the Gap Fire in July 2008 and the

Tea Fire The Tea Fire, also known as the Montecito Tea Fire, was a wildfire that began on November 13, 2008, destroying 210 homes in the cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara, California, in the United States of America. It was the first of several Novem ...

in November 2008. Intense sundowner winds caused the fire to spread rapidly during evening and nighttime hours during its first three days. The fire was fully contained on May 18, after having burned and destroying 80 homes.

Effects

An estimated 35,000 people were forced to evacuate during the fire. The

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

had shelters for evacuees at the Multi-Activity Court located in the UCSB Recreational Center. From May 5 to May 9, 2009, evacuees were also sheltered at San Marcos High School in

Goleta Goleta or La Goleta may refer to: * ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus * Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County * La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...

. Much of the

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a , containing over 1,000 species of rare and indigenous plants. It is located in Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, California, United States. The purpose of the Garden is to display California native plants in ...

was destroyed on the night of May 7. However, the primary effect of intentionally allowing the massive fire to develop without response for the first 3 hours was that CalFire was unable to secure hazard pay for its members.

Investigation

On December 11, 2009, charges were filed against Craig Ilenstine and Dana Larsen citing them for operating a weed whacker without a hot work permit. As the DA could not prove a connection between the trail work and starting the fire, the two were not charged with the

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...

of starting the fire, but instead with the

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

of not obtaining the proper permit for hot work. The hot work charge is somewhat unusual, as hot work typically refers to welding and soldering, not necessarily trail clearing with a weed whacker. In July 2010, Ilenstine and Larsen pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant ne ...

to the misdemeanor violation of county-code. The code states that anyone performing work that could spark a fire must have a shovel or

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

on hand. The two were each sentenced to 250 hours of community service, three years probation and a $490 fine. Illenstine and Larsen were not charged with starting the fire - only a charge from a California Fire Code entitled "Welding and other Hot Work" and local civil attorney Kathy Johnson states the statue was not intended to be applied to brush clearing work. A year later, in July 2011, 60 of the owners of homes destroyed by the fire filed a civil lawsuit against Stihl Incorporated, the manufacturer of the brush-cutting equipment, alleging that Stihl failed to warn users that the metal blades of the cutter could emit sparks capable of starting a fire in a high-risk area. In July 2013 Stihl agreed to settle the claims for an undisclosed amount of money. Jesusita Fire, 5-10-09

Response efforts

Direct Relief Direct Relief (formerly known as Direct Relief International) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical assistance and disaster relief in the United States and internationally. The organization is headed by an inde ...

delivered respiratory masks and albuterol inhalers to Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics and others affected by persistently poor air quality from smoke and ash.

References

External links

Google Map of Fire AreaSet of Google Maps
enhanced by

MODIS The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra ( EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 19 ...

, which reads fire/heat by satellite, and video by helicopter from

KSBY KSBY (channel 6) is a television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and maintains s ...

TV, by

Doc Searls David "Doc" Searls (born July 29, 1947), is an American journalist, columnist, and a widely read blogger. He is the host of FLOSS Weekly, a free and open-source software ( FLOSS) themed netcast from the TWiT Network, a co-author of '' The Clu ...

Time-lapse photos of fire
by a local resident (and evacuee) {{2009 California wildfires 2009 California wildfires History of Santa Barbara County, California Santa Ynez Mountains Wildfires in Santa Barbara County, California