A wildfire in the mountains above Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County has spread to more than 16,000 acres, prompting evacuations near Vineyards and Neverland Ranch.
The fire started near Zaca Lake just before 4 p.m. Friday and quickly spread through dry grass, brush and timber, officials said. The fire was zero percent contained Sunday.
The Sheriff’s Department expanded an evacuation zone Saturday night along Figueroa Mountain Road near Neverland Ranch, which once belonged to pop star Michael Jackson. Additional ground crews were dispatched to the area.
“Our goal is to maintain [the fire] Stay away from all these buildings,” said Kenichi Haskett, public information officer in charge of fire operations. “It will continue to grow.”
The fire is burning in the hills above Fox Canyon Road, home to more than a dozen vineyards. Several wineries north of Los Olivos were closed Sunday after fire officials cut off access to the road.
But Ashley Parker, a partner at Fess Parker Winery, said there was no need to evacuate.
Parker said that although she could see the glow north of the winery at night, the winds appeared to be driving the fire further north, away from more populated areas.
The threat was low enough, she said, that the children simply enjoyed the fire helicopters sucking water from the Vineyard reservoir.
“My nieces and their husbands live on the ranch,” Parker said. “All the kids got a real thrill out of it. Those helicopter pilots were amazing. We’re lucky to have great fire crews.
Low humidity and hot inland temperatures fueled the fires. At the time of the fire, a red flag warning was in effect due to gusty winds. The wind has died down now, but the temperature is still high.
“When the winds are lighter, they can have planes drop retardant there,” said Joe Szilard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “But this is life-threatening heat for these firefighters.”
Humidity remains in the single digits in some fire areas, especially at the highest elevations, he said. The cause of the fire is unclear.
Crews continue to battle multiple wildfires across California’s interior amid scorching temperatures. The largest of these is the Fresno County Basin Fire, which started on June 26.
Crews also contained the French Fire, which started on July 4 and briefly threatened the town of Mariposa outside Yosemite National Park. The 908-acre fire, which temporarily triggered mandatory evacuations and closed State Road 140 into the park, is now 60 percent contained.
The weather service has issued an excessive heat warning for inland valleys from Cuyama in San Luis Obispo County to Antelope Canyon in Los Angeles County until 9 p.m. Wednesday. Forecasters said high temperatures in inland California are expected to be between 106 and 116 degrees.
Relentless heat broke records in parts of the state on Saturday. Palmdale tied the all-time record of 115 degrees. On July 6, Death Valley set a new record high temperature of 128 degrees.
The cooling trend prompted the weather service to cancel overheat advisories and warnings for many coastal areas on Saturday.
In Los Olivos, vineyard managers said they were optimistic the fire would be contained soon. Parker said she expects her winery to reopen on Monday.
“I really believe the firefighters have the fire out and the area will be back to normal within a day,” she said. “The last thing I want to do is encourage people not to come. The town of Los Olivos is in good shape. Businesses are open .people had a great time.
Adrian de la Cruz, who works at Petros Winery closer to town, said customers were sitting indoors because of air quality issues.
“The smoke got really bad today,” he said. “It rained gray yesterday.”
He said a fire patrol officer came by but he didn’t have time to talk to him.
“We’re busy,” he said.
