Reporting from MONTECITO, Calif. — Many homes in the moneyed hills of Montecito and other communities along the southern Santa Barbara County coast are lined with lush ornamental vegetation intended to increase privacy for those living in the homes.
But this type of lush landscaping is also posing a fire risk as the massive Thomas fire swept into the area this week.
Firefighters have so far been able to keep the flames out of the major population centers along the coast. But the conditions on the ground — heavy vegetation, narrow winding roads, steep terrain and homes in close proximity to each other — create a dangerous situation.
“There is a huge risk right now. We have live fire, and a lot of fire, on that front country,” said Santa Barbara City Fire Department spokeswoman Amber Anderson. “The potential for it to push down into urbanized areas is huge.”
Towering eucalyptus trees, whose sap and bark are highly flammable, can be found in the area, Anderson said.
Juniper trees, California pepper trees, and pine trees are also common in the Montecito area. All are flammable.
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John Bain and Brandon Baker try to stop a fire from burning a stranger’s home in Ventura.
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A brush fire moving with the wind sends embers all over residential neighborhoods north of Ventura.
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A family packs up and evacuates as a brush fire gets closer to their home in Ventura.
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John Bain and his friends, all from Camarillo, came to help as brush fires move quickly through residential neighborhoods in Ventura.
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Strangers band together to help put out a palm tree on fire and stop it from burning homes.
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The Hawaiian Gardens apartments burn in Ventura.
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Residents help with the fire attack on Buena Vista Street in Ventura.
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Residents watch the Thomas fire on Prospect Street in Ventura.
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Firefighters are deployed to battle the fire in a Ventura neighborhood.
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A chimney is all that stands of a home as a brush fire continues to threaten other homes in Ventura.
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Remnants of a home as a brush fire continues to threaten other homes in Ventura.
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A home burns on a hillside overlooking Ventura.
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Palms are consumed in the Thomas fire.
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Emma Jacobson, 19, center, gets a hug from a neighbor after her family home was destroyed by fire in Ventura.
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Olivia Jacobson, 16, wipes tears as she looks at her family’s home, destroyed by the brush fire on Island View Drive in Ventura.
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Aerial view of the Thomas fire in Ventura County.
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Noah Alarcon carries a cage with the family cat while evacuating from Casitas Springs.
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Smoke from the Thomas fire crosses over Lake Casitas near Ojai.
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A Ventura County firefighter battles a blaze on Cobblestone Drive near Foothill Road in Ventura.
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Ventura County Firefighter Aaron Cohen catches his breath after fighting to save homes along Cobblestone Drive near Foothill Road in Ventura.
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Aerial view of homes burned to the ground in the Thomas fire in Ventura County.
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A home between Via Baja and Foothill Road burns in Ventura.
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Amanda Leon and husband Johnny Leon watch as firefighters fight to save homes along Cobblestone Drive near Foothill Road in Ventura.
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Chino Valley firefighters fight to save a home along Cobblestone Drive near Foothill Road in Ventura.
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Embers continue to burn at sunset Tuesday in a home on Ridgecrest Court at Scenic Way in the Clearpoint neighborhood of Ventura.
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A firefighter battles the Thomas fire along Highway 33 in Casitas Springs.
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Firefighters try to protect homes from the Thomas fire along Highway 33 in Casitas Springs.
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A firefighter battles the Thomas fire along Highway 33 in Casitas Springs.
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Edward Aguilar runs through the flames of the Thomas Fire to save his cats at his mobile home along Highway 33 in Casitas Springs in Ventura County.
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Jeff Lipscomb, left, Gabriel Lipscomb, 17, center, and Rachel Lipscomb, 11, look for items to recover from their burned home in Ventura.
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A traffic collision temporarily clogged lanes on the northbound 101 Freeway between Solimar and Faria Beaches as the Thomas fire burned in the hills.
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The Thomas fire burns towards the 101 Freeway and homes between Solimar and Faria Beaches.
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Fire personnel keep an eye on the Thomas fire on Toland Road near Santa Paula.
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A train on the Rincon coast passes a burning hillside from the Thomas fire.
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The Thomas fire burns along the 101 Freeway north of Ventura on Wednesday evening.
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A firefighter battles the Thomas fire in the town of La Conchita early Thursday.
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A resident cries as the Thomas fire approaches the town of La Conchita early Thursday.
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Burned palm trees are left standing between the 101 Freeway and Faria Beach as the Thomas fire reaches the Pacific Ocean.
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Firefighters battle Thursday to protect the resort city of Ojai from encroaching flames.
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Casey Rodriquez helps a friend move belongings after the Thomas Fire destroyed most of an apartment building on North Kalarama in Ventura.
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A burnt-out bus near Maripoca Highway.
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The Thomas fire burns in the Los Padres National Forest, near Ojai.
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A huge plume of smoke rises north of Ventura as seen Sunday afternoon from the Ventura pier, as the Thomas fire threatens parts of Carpenteria and Montecito.
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The Thomas Fire burns in the Los Padres National Forest, near Ojai, Calif. on Friday.
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Residents react as they watch the Thomas Fire burn in the hills above La Conchita at 5 am Thursday moning.
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Mary McEwen and husband Dan Bellaart prepare to evacuate their home on Toro Canyon Road in Montecito as the Thomas fire burns.
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Carpenteria resident Chris Gayner, right, photographs a plane in the hills of Carpenteria.
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From left, residents Michael Desjardins, his neighbor Patty Rodriguez, daughter Mikayla, wife Veronica, mother in law Amanda Buzin, and son Mikey keep an eye on the Thomas fire in Carpenteria.
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Mary McEwen cheers as she sees fire crews make their way up a hill past her home on Toro Canyon Rd. in Montecito.
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Dan Bellaart and wife Mary McEwen comfort each other in the backyard of their home that includes an avocado ranch on 9 acres of land on Toro Canyon Road in Montecito, as the Thomas fire burns in the background.
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Carpinteria resident Jay Molnar, 55, mouth and nose protected against the smoke, views flames glowing in the hills above the city on Dec. 11, 2017.
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Sacramento firefighters battle a blaze in Toro Canyon in Carpenteria at dusk Tuesday.
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Josh Acosta, superintendent with Fulton Hotshots looks for ways to fight fire consuming a structure threatening two homes high up Toro Canyon in Carpenteria at dusk Tuesday.
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A motorcade passes on tHighway 126 carrying the body of a Cal Fire engineer Cory Iverson, who died Thursday morning while battling the Thomas Fire.
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Santa Paula City officials, Police and Firefighters salute from a bridge as a motorcade passes on the Santa Paula Freeway 126 carrying the body of a Cal Fire engineer Cory Iverson.
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Forest Service crews cut and clear dense brush for contingency lines off of East Camino Cielo in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Montecito and Santa Barbara to help stop the Thomas fire from advancing.
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A hotshot crew from Ojai marches towards their assignment to protect structures on East Mountain Drive in Montecito.
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Firefighters monitor the flames Saturday from a staging area near Parma Park in Montecito.
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Flames slowly make their way down a valley behind a home in Montecito.
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Flames whip around power lines as they move through Sycamore Canyon on Saturday, threatening structures in Montecito.
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Smoke billows over Santa Barbara as the Thomas Fire continues to threaten the area on Saturday.
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Bill Shubin, deputy fire chief of the Santa Rosa Fire Department checks on flames burning near homes north of East Mountain Drive in Montecito.
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A fire truck pulls responds to fires burning near homes on East Mountain Drive in Montecito.
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Brian Good, from US Forest Service, leans forward against the wind, and holds up a Kestrel to measure wind speeds up to 50 mph on Gibraltar Road in Montecito.
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A plume of smoke moves south as winds as high as 50 mph blow down Gibraltar Road on the west fork of Cold Spring Trail in Montecito.
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Flames and a big plume of smoke threaten homes on Gibraltar Road near Gibraltar Rock, outside Montecito.
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The sun rises as fire crews prepare for another day of fighting the Thomas Fire, in Montecito, Calif., on Sunday.
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An aircraft makes a water drop over a hot spot up in the mountain range at Gibraltar Rock near Montecito, Calif. on Sunday.
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Humboldt County firefighters Bobby Gray, left, hoses down smoldering flames inside a destroyed home, as Kellee Stoehr, right looks on, after the Thomas Fire burned in Montecito, Calif. on Sunday.
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A home on Park Hill Lane was destroyed by the Thomas fire in Montecito, Calif.
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Humboldt County firefighters Lonnie Risling, left, and Jimmy McHaffie, right, spray down smoldering fire underneath the rubble of a home that was destroyed by the Thomas Fire, in Montecito, Calif., Sunday.
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Fire crews help the Behrman family retrieve their family’s personal belongings out of their burned home, in Montecito, Calif., on Sunday.
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In the foreground of the ridges that were burned by the Thomas Fire, Rusty Smith stands outside his home that survived the flames that were kicked up by Saturday’s wind event and threatened his home in Flores Flats on Gibraltar Road, near Montecito.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Tall and narrow Italian cypress trees are popular in the area, too, because they can offer privacy. Anderson said wooden fences are not popular in Santa Barbara, as homeowners prefer natural vegetation.
“That is putting flammable fuel that is ready and willing and wants to burn in between those structures,” she said. “It makes it very dangerous for firefighters to implant themselves into those neighborhoods to do structure protection.”
Montecito has over the last few decades become a favorite spot of celebrities, making it one of the most affluent communities in America. Those who own homes there include Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres.
The area is highly susceptible to wildfires, which occur every few years. A 2008 fire threatened the community and badly damaged the home of actor Christopher Lloyd, forcing the caretaker to flee for his life.
The city of Santa Barbara bans certain types of vegetation, including cypress, eucalyptus, juniper and pine, from high fire hazard areas. Montecito, which is in unincorporated Santa Barbara County, does not have such restrictions.
The Montecito Fire Protection District’s wildfire protection plan notes that Montecito’s age and semirural character pose other problems for firefighters: Some addresses are not clearly visible from the road; street signs are not lighted; tight spaces make turning around difficult for a large convoy of firetrucks.
The 2016 city plan notes that while Montecito is an “idyllic and highly desirable place to live and visit,” the residents often overlook the fact “that the area is highly prone to large wildfires.”
“The combination of hot and dry Mediterranean climate, highly ignitable vegetation, numerous fire ignitions and human development create significant potential for a major disaster,” the plan says.
In 2008, embers from an abandoned bonfire above Montecito were pushed downhill by swift sundowner winds. The conflagration, known as the Tea fire, destroyed 210 homes in Santa Barbara and Montecito.
“We don’t want the fire anywhere close to Montecito,” said Andrew Madsen, a Los Padres National Forest public affairs officer.
The massive value of the homes in the area is not lost on firefighters.
“I don’t know where you would find more value at risk,” Madsen said.
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Twitter: @jpanzar
UPDATES:
6:25 p.m.: This post was updated with background and information about Montecito.
This article was originally published at 2:40 p.m.
