Burn Pemit on a Windy Day Was a 'Mistake' by Santa Barbara County Fire
GOLETA, Calif. -The Santa Barbara County Fire Department is going to toughen up its controlled burn permit policy after a mistake took place Tuesday at a private ranch in the Goleta foothills.
Captain David Sadecki says agricultural burn permits are issued regularly and can be used for up to a year from the date they are issued. When a property owner wants to burn old vegetation, or uprooted trees, they ask for permission on the specific day. That approval comes from the Air Pollution Control District and the County Fire Department.
A property owner on Camino Rio Verde was given a go ahead for a burn Tuesday morning, but that turned out to be an error by the end of a blustery day.
"One of the things that is our responsibility as far as this fire, it was a permissible burn day and it shouldn't have been," said Sadecki. The fire department command staff has met to discuss changes to make sure permits are not approved if conditions would be unsafe. "There was an oversight. Our communication in the future is going to be much better. Our fire chief took a very quick stance as far as a remedy for this issue," he said. "From now on we are going to make it safer for the residents."
Nervous neighbors who saw the strong Tuesday evening 'sundowner' winds and smoke in the hills, were very upset until firefighters calmed down the runaway flames at an acre and a half. No homes were lost.
"I expect them (controlled burns) to occur in the morning. But what I didn't expect is for them to happen on a day that turned out to be very windy," said resident Michael Fay.
Many have lived in the area when larger fires have come out of the hills and some were ready to evacuate, although no notice was given. The fire was in an area of light grass but next to thicker brush and an orchard.
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