Hundreds Evacuated As Californiaâ??s "Zaca Fire" Consumes Thousands of Acres

Santa Barbara County, CA, Aug. 20, 2007

— The "Zaca Fire" began accidentally 15 miles northeast of Buellton on the morning of July 4 and had burned more than 200,000 acres by presstime. Hundreds of people were evacuated north of Santa Barbara as the fire threatened several communities. Joint Unified Incident Management Teams were from the Los Padres National Forest and Santa Barbara County Fire Department. At presstime, it was the third-largest wildfire in California history, trailing the "Cedar Fire" in the San Diego area in 2003 at 280,278 acres and the "Matilija Fire" in 1932, which consumed 220,000 acres in the same area in which the "Zaca Fire" was burning.