Homes, Animals Spared in Lompoc Valley Wildfire

This was a fast-moving wildfire fueled by decades-old brush in the northern Lompoc Valley back country.

Property owners in the path of the fire are thanking the quick response by the firefighters on the ground and in the air.

Dozens of people and hundreds of animals were in the path of the wildfire that had all the makings of an out-of-control emergency when it was first spotted.

Shortly after the fire was spotted and reported, firefighting boots were on the ground and tankers in the sky attacking the flames.

“That’s the closest that I’ve ever come to everything burning up”, says Erica Van Brunt who lives among dozens of homes and horse ranches in the path of the fire, “you walk outside and there’s ashes and stuff falling like snow and there’s nothing but this big black cloud of smoke.”

“We had to evacuate 30 horses here so it was really crazy”, adds Mark who also lives in the Cebada Canyon Road area where Santa Barbara County firefighters and their partners in other agencies were on the firelines protecting lives and property, “these guys and these planes were amazing, they did a helluva job, and they knocked it down to a spot where all of the sudden, where I thought we would be in a lot of trouble, we weren’t.”

“These guys are absolutely awesome”, adds Erica Van Brunt, “because they are putting their lives on the line to save our stuff.”

By early evening Monday all of the flames had been snuffed out and helicopters were dropping water on remaining hot spots.

Despite all the resources thrown at the fire, it was Mother Nature who called the final shots calming what would have otherwise been notorious afternoon winds that funnel down the Lompoc Valley like clockwork.

“If we had wind on this thing today we would have a seen a lot bigger fire and probably some home lost”, says Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesperson Capt. David Zaniboni.

Aircraft assigned to the fire are grounded until daybreak.

Ground crews will remain on the fire lines through the night with the goal of building a complete containment line around the fire by Tuesday.