Dec. 13--Taking advantage of decreasing winds, former burn areas and air support, fire crews have slowed the Thomas Fire's growth and improved containment figures, authorities said Tuesday.
By Tuesday, entering the fire's ninth day, the blaze stood at 236,000 acres and was 25 percent contained.
"The last two nights have been much more favorable for firefighting," said Capt. Stan Ziegler, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.
Mark Brown, Cal Fire operations section chief, said the use of seven air water tankers in the Fillmore area also made for a successful day Tuesday.
"We've turned the corner there," he said at a media briefing Tuesday evening.
An estimated 132,000 gallons of retardant were dropped on the fire, although Brown said the planes and helicopters did not have as much time to make drops as he would have liked.
The response to the fire has cost nearly $55.6 million since it began Dec. 4 north of Santa Paula. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
One firefighter was injured Tuesday and transported off the line. No additional information was immediately available.
Firefighting efforts tamed the explosive growth from over the weekend. On Sunday, the blaze consumed almost 60,000 acres, but the fire added less than 5,000 acres Monday.
Matthew Chambers, an incident spokesman, said crews were using natural features in the area, such as burn scars from past fires, to curb the Thomas Fire's growth.
It has already burned into part of the 2006 Day Fire area north of Fillmore, Chambers said.
In Santa Barbara County, the Thomas fire was approaching zones burned by the 2007 Zaca Fire to the north and the 2016 Rey Fire to the west, Chambers said.
Even so, fire behavior specialists working the incident stressed that extreme fire weather is still present, with humidity in the Montecito area around 1 percent while winds continue to gust.
On the fire's western front and its most active area, near El Camino Cielo in Santa Barbara County, the blaze was threatening areas spared from fire for decades. Burnable materials are more than 50 years old and highly combustible, Ziegler said.
The nearly nonexistent humidity is contributing to the combustibility of the now decades-old fuels, Chambers added.
Winds have been in a slight but steady decline over the past few days.
According to the National Weather Service, gusts have tapered off since Saturday and Sunday, when they reached speeds of 40 and 50 mph.
Tuesday's winds measured 20 to 30 mph and were expected to remain about the same into Wednesday. A red-flag fire warning was extended until Friday at 10 a.m.
The wind, low humidity and zones where fire hasn't burned for a generation have potential for extreme results, Ziegler said. He said incident command officials were still being reminded of the dangers faced by fire personnel.
Crews were trying to get ahead of the fire Tuesday, using bulldozers and heavy equipment to build containment lines.
Ziegler said winds were expected to push flames away from the populated areas of Santa Barbara County during the daytime hours.
Firefighters were standing at the ready near residential areas of Santa Barbara County to ensure the safety of property, officials said.
On the eastern front, crews were encountering rough and rugged terrain in the Sespe Wilderness north of Fillmore. So far, they had managed to keep the city out of immediate fire danger.
It's a hard piece of country, Chambers said, noting the steep terrain.
Ziegler said vehicular access to the Sespe front would be limited in the area. Firefighters were depending on air units to fight the blaze, he said.
Crews would be making a stand in the Sespe Creek drainage area north of Fillmore to prevent the fire from encroaching upon the populated areas, Ziegler said.
In other parts of Ventura County, life crept back to normal as most of the city of Ventura was out from under mandatory evacuation orders and the last vestiges of a water boil advisory were lifted Tuesday morning.
A local assistance center was set to open at the Poinsettia Pavilion in Ventura Wednesday and remain open until Dec. 31 for all residents of Ventura County.
The facility is at 3451 Foothill Road.The center will be open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Evacuation orders were also lifted for some residents of the Lake Casitas area between U.S. Forest Service Casitas station and Highway 150 on the west and east, and Los Padres National Forest and Casitas Vista Road on the north and south.
Due to air-quality concerns, the Ventura Unified, Oxnard elementary, Oxnard Union, Briggs, Rio, Santa Clara elementary and Santa Paula Unified school districts will be closed for the rest of this week. Ojai Unified will reopen Jan. 2, Hueneme Elementary will be closed until Jan. 3 and Mupu Elementary will be back in session Jan. 8. Updates on school closures are available at http://www.vcoe.org.
Also, remaining final exams were canceled for students of Ventura College.
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