A Montecito homeowner has found valuables at his home destroyed in the Thomas fire

The firestorm Saturday morning left Gary Simpson’s home destroyed except for his garage where he found a silver lining.

Even with the sadness of losing his house on Park Lane, Simpson was able to come back with firefighters and see many items that were saved.

During the fire fight, some of the belongings were relocated by firefighters as the flames hit. That included family collectables, art work, antique furniture and surf boards.

There were multiple fire crews in the area because of the anticipated high wind event in an already burning fire zone. The strike teams around Simpsons neighborhood were from Los Angeles City along with Orange and Marin Counties.

Simpson was overwhelmed with emotion at the effort of the fire crews. He knew they were in peril while both fighting the fast moving fire and also trying to save his possessions. “I don’t cry very often. These guys are heroes,” he said. “They put their life on the line.”

Captain Rick Crawford with L.A. City fire working in the area as part of the mutual aid staffing said the preparation around the house to prevent a fire was as good as anyone could have expected. There had been acres of brush abatement done over many months. The plan was worked out in coordination with the Montecito Fire Protection District’s wildland specialist.

That was backed up by a fire retardant gel sprayed on the house and hundreds of feet of hose line around the property.

With all that, it appeared as if a hot ember may have gotten into the house through a vent and it was fanned by winds in excess of 60 miles per hour.

The home burned from the inside out starting in an upstairs bedroom.

That section of the house collapsed. Massive beams showed deep fire scars indicating just how hot the flames were. A chandelier that had hung up about 25 feet above the entrance was on the ground in the rubble.

Simpson’s girlfriend Jill NIda had been following the progress of the fire for days. She thought the house would be in ruins with “nothing left.” It had already damaged hundreds of homes in Ventura County and some in Santa Barbara County nearby in Carpinteria before it arrived in the drought impacted hills of Montecito.

She was elated at the items that were saved by the fire crews. Nida has seen many Santa Barbara area fires for years and had two close friends lose their homes in the past to fires. One of them also had a house burn up after a similar surprise hot ember intrusion that started an interior destructive fire.

Simpson is the owner of the honored ACE Hardware Home Improvement Center in Santa Barbara.

His work to reduce the fire threat in the hills near his home may have helped other property owners nearby according to Information Officer Steve Concialdi. He said that took the fuel out of the area that might have spread more embers into adjacent structures and those below.