that whole area is very dense in vegitation. Its simalar to Carmel in terms of trees and brush. Its a huge fire trap. You cant have a proper fire break without cutting down every 150yr old tree. A add those sundowner winds and you have a recipe for disaster. Everyone knew this could happen.
I wonder if Oprahs house survived. You know she is calling for info.

Always sad to see this story Adam.
Makes me more thankful for the things we tend to take for granted.
Take care out there and stay safe!

Stay safe Adam -

I knew the Carson Helicopter guys from our airport in Chicagoland years ago, guess they help you out west also. Great people – see link attached to my name.

What a shock when I woke this morning to this news. My daughters Best friend lives and goes to school at Westmont. Hoping she is okay. I heard some dorms burned ?

My dad phoned this morning to say that my sister lost her home. They literally fled with the shirts on their back. About half of the Wesmont campus is in bad shape. My brother-in-law is a Westmont professor.

The news media portrays this area as home to people like Oprah. However, a lot of Motecito is home to modest neighborhoods that house the faculty, staff, and students of the college. These are people who make modest salaries and have several kids–it will be hard for them to re-build.

I’m just sick this morning. Can hardly work. Even though lives are more important than “stuff,” people have lost memories and things dear to them.

Living in Minnesota now (18 years), I received a call this morning from one of my best friends to let me know about the fire. I immediately went to the TV and then online. Such a tragedy, as it is with all fires and similar disasters. I have wonderful, wonderful memories of time spent in Monticeto in the 60s and 70s and the hills there, including hikes at the Tea Room and horseback riding. I also remember the horrible fires of 1964 (I was 9), 1977, and 1990 and the fears, especially as a child, that those fires would come across the City and to the Mesa/Pacific Ocean where I lived. My heart goes out to all the people affected. And I’m praying for their safety and the safety of the incredible firefighters (on the ground and in the air) who are battling this monster.

Who cares about the celebs. They make enough money to build hundreds of homes.

The reason these fires happen is because the earth is cleaning itself. Humans make sure the fires don’t happen and all the brush and vegetation build up to a point that it’s obnoxiously combustible. Let the earth cleanse itself of all the garbage that’s on it.

Lotusland is right there. One of the 10 best private gardens in the world(at least it used to be). Ol’ Ganna is going to roll over in her grave and wack the Devil with her cane if any firemen step on her plants.Did it start at the Tea Gardens?

I’m a Wesmont alum … so sad to see the devastation. The news keeps commenting on the loss of multi-million dollar homes. Someone should make sure that people know that ordinary people – like a dozen professors from Westmont – also lost homes.

I hope Oprah’s house BURNS to the ground. That would prove to me that prayers are answered!!!

For those that have family and such…
there is lots of info here. including evac lists and shelters.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7860822&version=53&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

I hope Oprah’s house BURNS to the ground.

Adam,

I used to live in that beautiful place and am heartbroken to hear about the horrible fires. I concur with Amy….there are also many “ordinary” people who live there….am tired of only hearing about the celebrities. I have many friends who are in harms way who are not “movie stars”. Thanks for letting me vent. You do a great job,

Sharon Franke
Little Rock, Arkansas

It is ashame that this happens, but with the current policies in place this will happen again. Controlled burns would have stopped this from happening. But with APCD, and others like this it will happen again. I am one of the people that comes in and does clean-up on fires like this ,such as the Tahoe fire. Brush and native growth many people want left in place do tho the regulations from all the Goverement enities try getting a burn permit in this County.

Living in Minnesota now. But was schocked to wake up and see this news. So sad, my heart goes out to those that lost everything. I grew up very close to Alston Road and Eucalyptus Road – just a half a mile away. I remember the 1977 fire when it went across the canyon and destroyed over 200 homes and the way the hills looked all black. I even went to Cleveland elementary so I can visualize this whole area well. This isn’t just an area for the super rich – or stars. Our neighbors were (granted years ago) were doctors, managers, etc.. And a lot of those homes had been in families for a long time.

Why is it that over 1,600 college students are trapped in a gym all night at Westmont College and there is no reporting on what has happened to them. I do not care to hear about Oprah Winfrey or Michael Douglas’ multiple houses that they probably are not even residing in now. Why has it come to the point that you feel all that all the public cares about are celebrities!! Most of the public could care less. They have enough resources to care for themselves. But these are many young people who probably don’t even have dorm fire insurance, who have lost all of there possessions. Those are the people’s struggles that we should be hearing about. Besides the fact that this is an incredible college also that has been ravaged. Let’s hear about some things that count!
Thank you.

Please give us more information about the losses at the College. There are kids there from all over the world whose parents are anxious for information and can only get it through the internet.

Linda and Carole…a little investigative work isnt that tough.
Doesnt look to me like kids are trapped, but im a few thousand miles away.
http://disaster.westmont.edu/www/system_status/

Just heard from my sister. Evidently in the Westmont faculty neighborhood, every other house is standing intact, and every other house has burned to the ground. My sister’s house is completely destroyed. She was crying–she said it’s just “stuff” but lost of dear things and memories. The fire department let them walk up to the house to look around, then ushered them back down. They got worried about gas line breaks. Many families with 4 and 5 kids have lost everything.

Evidently the students are fine, although one dorm has burned to the ground. A lot of the science labs are gone. Students who have somewhere else to go in Santa Barabara have been allowed to leave campus. The Westmont Website is down. My sister’s family had a student living with them–he probably lost everything.

Yes, Westmont is home to students from all over the world. Westmont faculty and staff make modest salaries. They can afford to live in Montecito because the college subsidizes housing and owns a neighborhood of modest 3-bedroom homes.

This is not about Oprah, folks, but about average, everyday people. These are folks who have student loans, live hand-to-mouth–just like the rest of us.

I live in Ojai & had left for a 7 p.m. meeting in Santa Barbara. I caught a glimpse of a distant mountain side of fire on my way down the mountains via route 150 into Carpinteria. As I drove north on the 101, I could see this was a very serious fire & growing bigger each moment. By the time I got to Summerland, there was smoke visable on the freeway. I decided this was not a situation I wanted to be part of so I turned around and went back home. By the time I got back home, approximately 1 hour after the fire was thought to have started, it had grown to 300 acres and more than a dozen homes had already been lost. There are many more average income people living in this area than the news reports would have you believe–many of them are my friends.

Just great. Just what we need. As if the fire isn’t enough a terribly unfortunate calamity for the residents, it consumed Oprah Winfrey’s home.

Oprah Winfrey’s home! Now that’s proof positive Republicans are surely responsible for “global warming” and this consequential outrage. Stay tuned for “Next on Oprah.”

Hi Adam,

How sad to see people losing their homes and belongings.

I just logged onto your blog for the first time as I was reading Foxnews and your name caught my eye. Maybe we are related in the distant past.

Sue

Oh puleeeez,
No one in Santa Barbara makes an “average” income….and there are no “average” homes there.

Oh Stew…really…there are tons of people who live in Santa Barbara with very average and below average homes. I lived there for years, and we never had anything greater than the average person.

This area, because of it’s weather, attracts affluent people who can afford to live there. But, there are the normal people too..and they are the ones that suffer the most when things like this happen. Them and all the wildlife and domestic animals.

Sooo very sad.

I couldn’t imagine losing my home…..

Stew, you are ignorant. Plenty of “average” income people here. Many renters who cannot afford insurance as well. The Eastside has been evacuated, and many of those people are the ones with an “average” income. Oprah’s house is in good shape though.

I’m a recent (‘05) Westmont grad. Thanks everyone for their concern. 14 professors have lost their homes completely. Several dorm buildings (all in Clark Dorm) burned down. Also lost are the math, psychology and physics buildings, with some damage to other buildings. Seems that Kerrwood Hall and the Kerr Student Center, as well as Voskuyl Chapel are all okay. Students are all safe.

Your house and contents might just be “stuff” but it’s still a devistating loss, no matter your station in life. We had to deal with it after the 2003 fires and now I’m working with a non-profit who (at no charge) helps educate people after disasters. We are currently working with 2007 survivors, but if you (or someone you know) lost property, check out our website. http://www.carehelp.org

wow adam you guys need rest and a decent meal, i’m sure.

My daughter moved to Goleta in September to go to school. She walked into class last night in downtown Santa Barbara and the power went out. Her and her roommates are packing in case they have to leave.

at least these people SHOULD have insurance. OH NO! This will cost the insurance companies BIG. Now they are going to want to be “bailed out”.

btw – was great to see you on FOX Adam. Be safe!

If I hear any more newscasters talk about the celebrity homes that were threatened I’ll scream. My daughter was in that gym at Westmont College watching her campus burn around her. 14 teachers lost their homes, 50 students lost everything in their dorms. Thank God for cell phones that I could tell her what the news was saying and hearing her voice that she was ok. That’s what’s news worthy not that Oprah’s house didn’t burn down.

Adam–

I will reiterate what I have said in the past many times– this totally sucks for everyone!!!!

Arnold is probably getting tired of saying– State of Emergency–

I hope you found a pillow!

I saw you a couple times– Shep and Martha–

I’m a Westmont Alumn and was so sad to hear about this fire. Westmont still feels like home to me, and its students and professors are family. I am also saddened by the Montecito residents who have lost homes. Whether wealthy or not, they are people, and losing a home like this is a very difficult and tragic thing. My heart and prayers go out to everyone there.

I was wondering if there are any private firefighters involved in fighting this fire? Many insurance companies that cover high dollar homes have their own private firefighters that are dispatched to situations like this one to protect their insured homes.

What a horrible tragedy for everyone, rich and poor alike. They all have family pictures and mementos that are gone. And having insurance is not enough to repair the devastation and rebuild. I’m seeking information about the status of Lotusland. I know many, many of the plants are found no where else on the planet. It is an amazing historical garden, and I fear it is lost in the fire. Any news?

wow,with all of these huge fires around LA all of a sudden. The media sure forgot about Monticeto…not sexy anymore………….and the news cycle goes on…..

It seems like two or three times a year we hear about these wildfires and people’s houses burning to the ground.Is it because of where they built their house duhhhh! What if I built my house at the base of a mountain where avalaches are common,or what if I built my house below an active volcano,or what if I built my house next to a river that floods on a regular basis,or what if I built my house on the first lap of a nascar track where cars come crashing through my house.GET THE PICTURE!DON’T BUILD YOUR HOUSE IN THOSE PLACES BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN AND YOU DO IT ANYWAY!

Has it taken out Oprah’s house yet?
To the rest of them, I hope they remain safe.

Obviously these terrible fires are a sure sign of God’s wrath on Californians for having denied gays their due rights as citizens and taxpayers.

If this is God weighing in, looks like you should stop trying to overturn the homosexual marriage amendment to California’s constitution immediately! LOL …no seriously, is California still happy they grounded and defunded their air tanker program? Just like your dabble into energy contacts and the resulting economic disaster as you were taught an expensive lesson about “outsmarting” market economies, this is similar. California, the safe haven for illegal aliens and the glorious benefits they receive at taxpayer expense, have ZERO INTENTION of providing air tankers to fight their own fires. Instead, they cry and complain about what the White House will give them even as they produce insulting movies slandering their Commander in Chief, making him appear pathetic on the so called “big screen” even as it fails miserably at the box office (because the rest of the country does not care with some crank in CA thinks about anything). This is not a tragic wildfire at all, it’s California paying the price for their pathetic, petulant, ignorent behavior as the rest of the nation laughs at them once again.

for those rather rude comments– wishing ill fate on others–

watch what you wish for, for you may become the recipient of that wish~

God’s wrath? My a**!

My deepest sympathy for that nonsensical thinking-

My prayers go out to all who are affected by these horrible, fires. I pray that those fighting these fires remain safe, god bless them. Keep yourself safe Adam.

To all you want to bring politics into this — well you are what is wrong in the world today!!!

Some of you people really are sad. I live in California. I have seen many fires. And its true if you want to live in areas where there is high fire danger you need to be educated in what to do. But most people who live in those areas dont. I live in the high desert outside of Palm Springs. We have our share of Fires. Mostly caused by High Power Lines that are like fifty years old. And this happens over and over. Until the people of this once great state scream enough about it, nothing will change. I sure hope that the wealthy Celebs pitch in and help rebuild that colege. God bless those people who lost their homes.

People, why come here to spew hate? It has nothing to do with the fire reporting.
You, yourself may have to answer to God’s wrath some day, may i suggest a lil more compassion?
No one “deserves” to loose anything by way of these fires.
Be careful what you ask for, you might be next.

HEY THEY OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO WEZZLE OUT OF THEIR BALLON PAYMENTS NOW…

As tragic as the fires are, the wall to wall coverage by the media is lunacy. The fact is that whether it’s fires in Caifornia or typhoons in Florida, neither affects more than a tiny handful of people in relationship to the size of our country. Please, give updates during regular news reports but knock-off the incessant coverage.

many, many of us, living in other parts of the country, have relatives living in S. Cal., so the coverage does help us to know some of the situation, rather than a news blip of a fire in an area!
Thank you, Adam, for your coverage! The people in the fire areas, as well as the rescue and fire fighters, have been in our prayers!! Thank you is such a small word, but it is with heart-felt thank you, we say this!!
The full impact of these fires can never be felt, if we live in another part of the country, but the thought of what would we do if it were our home or our relatives, etc.!! This helps to put it into perspective…we could never really “know” what it’s like, unless we were living in the area and could see and feel the flames or inferno!!!
We are truly sorry for the loss that so many have had to endure this past week…God guard and keep you in His charge!! Our nation is praying for you.

Why are they calling the fire the “Tea Fire”?

It is good to see the wide spread fires, fueled by the unmanaged undergrowth and fanned by the seasonal winds, returned to CA in 2008.

This area of CA burns in splotches every year. I for one don’t understand it! If the environmentalist won’t let people protect their properties, why not just burn it all at once? Stack the whole darn place in firewood and let it all burn! Give the area back to nature in one big endowment. This slow burn method is not the way to go about the act of self destruction. It is frustrating to those of us in the MidWest who don’t like hearing about it year after year after year. It is just like rebuilding in a flood plane.

Ohhh yeah….there may be another option! The sensible people of CA could say enough is enough. They could clean up the forest floors and brush around their homes, cut firebreaks and manage the fuel loads to the extent needed to protect their properties? Similar to what their fathers and grand-fathers did when they lived in the area. In fact, like mankind has done in most areas he has civilized over time, prepare and maintain it for human habitation. There is not much anyone can do to change the wind patterns. But I would consult the expert, Al Gore, to be certain of that.

re: Ann Chappell
Why the “tea fire”?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/15/MN8V144NUS.DTL
This is the best i can find…..
“broke out Thursday at 5:45 p.m. in the Tea House, a historic and defunct tea cafe in the hills of Montecito. “

i am sure that these rich leftist pri%ks are being punished for voting for obama…….. i heard that OPRAH’S house stood…. guess that the fire trucks lined up to save it and let 100’s of others burned like our country will….. thanks

Where is Al Gore? Mother Nature owes him some carbon credits.
Forest fires are a natural process of our environment and in some evergreen species fire is the only way that their seeds can be released to germinate. This natural disaster which reoccured countless times has released more carbon in the air then all of the cars in California for the past 10 years. Is the earth warming because of man or was this warming period caused by periodic solar flare? Just wanted to illustrate perspective.

“Together we stand, divided we fall”. No words have ever been more true than these for the condition in America. As conservative Americans it is our responsibility to protect the Constitution and what it stands for……at all costs. Join the fight. Don’t let our country be sold-out by radical Socialists. There are a lot more of us who have worked for what we have than those who have leached off society their entire lives. Let our voices be heard.

My thoughts and prayers go out to ALL to have lost their homes and belongings.

Adam, great job at reporting