CA Wildfires: Alisal Swells To 13K Acres; Strong Winds Persist

CALIFORNIA — Strong winds continued to jostle both sides of the Golden State on Wednesday as firefighters battled new and existing blazes in dry air and cooling temperatures.

Crews were on guard Wednesday in preparation for northerly winds and sunset gusts of up to 40 mph to spark new fires in the Southland, and conditions were expected worsen in the late afternoon with the arrival of fierce sundowner winds, which were forecast to blow from Santa Barbara to San Diego, weather officials reported.

A wind advisory was set to remain in effect from Wednesday afternoon to 3 a.m. on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Aside from elevated fire danger, winds could blow unsecured objects around, knock out tree limbs and spur more power outages, weather officials said.

Along the Central Coast, such gusts were fanning the Alisal Blaze, which grew beyond 13,000 acres in two days — prompting officials to double the amount of fire personnel to 1,300. The fire covers more than 24 square miles in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara and was just 5 percent contained on Wednesday.

Crews were working to defend Rancho del Cielo, once owned by Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The 688-acre property — previously known as the Western White House — sits atop a mountain range, above where flames chewed through dense chaparral and grass.

#Alisal Fire - Favorable conditions are allowing the use of fixed-wing tankers are working the north end of the fire along the Camino. Aircraft making Phos-chek drops include the BAe-146, 737, MD-87, and DC-10. pic.twitter.com/ZALZDXvAUb
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) October 13, 2021

"The main constraint has been heavy winds that have limited safe access to suppress the fire and limited the use of aircraft to engage and support fire suppression," U.S. Forest Service officials said in a statement.

Firefighters were also working to keep the blaze away from an Exxon/Mobil gas processing facility in a canyon surrounded by flames.

Evacuation orders were in effect for the following communities: Arroyo Hondo Canyon, Refugio Canyon, and the area between El Capitan Beach State Park and West Camino Cielo.

The American Red Cross was offering shelter and assistance at Dos Pueblos High School upper parking lot at 7266 Alameda Ave. in Goleta. Anyone in need of help was urged to contact the organization at 833-583-3111.

The fire sparked Tuesday as powerful winds ripped through the region, pitting hundreds of firefighters against towering flames, which jumped four lanes of Highway 101, a main thoroughfare in the area. The closure forced motorists to take a circuitous detour on smaller routes.

The road could remain closed until the weekend, said Andrew Madsen, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Firefighters working in steep, rugged terrain got help from more than a dozen water-dropping air tankers and helicopters that returned to the skies amid calmer daytime winds, according to Madsen.

"The [aircrafts] are probably going to get shut down later this afternoon when the big winds return," he said.

Forecasters planned to issue a fire weather watch Friday due to the predicted development of Santa Ana winds in the Southland.

READ MORE: CA Fires: Winds Spark New Blazes; Alisal Fire Erupts

In Northern California, red flag warnings were expected to go into effect on Thursday due to high diablo winds and dry air. Pacific Gas & Electric said it would likely have to shut off electricity to targeted portions of 13 Northern California counties once again on Thursday to prevent wildfires from being ignited by wind damage to power lines. The utility just restored power to about 25,000 customers who had their electricity shut off due to Monday’s windstorm.

Earlier this week, another wind-driven wildfire in San Joaquin County damaged about five mobile homes that raced through the Islander Mobile Home Park, Lathrop-Manteca Fire Chief Josh Capper told Fox40-TV. In that fire, an unidentified man suffered severe third-degree burns over most of his body, officials said.

Although the winds were easing on Tuesday, about 30 structures were destroyed Monday afternoon when wind-driven flames roared through the Rancho Marina RV Park in Sacramento County, River Delta Fire District Deputy Chief Hugh Henderson told ABC10-TV. No injuries were reported and the cause remained under investigation.

Windy weather is a nightmare for firefighters in a state where heat waves and historic droughts tied to climate change have left forests and brush tinder-dry. Fires that began in late summer are still burning after destroying hundreds of homes.

In the Sierra Nevada, the KNP Complex fire, which may have burned hundreds of giant sequoias, was 40 percent contained on Wednesday. The fire has charred more than 87,786 acres.

READ MORE: CA Wildfires May Have Destroyed Hundreds Of Giant Sequoias

More than 7,883 wildfires in California this year have damaged or destroyed upwards of 3,000 homes and other buildings and torched nearly 2.5 million acres since the beginning of the year. In comparison to the same time last year, there were 8,278 wildfires, which burned more than 3.6 million acres.

See this map from Cal Fire of all fires burning across the state on Wednesday:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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