Cave Fire Spreads And Burns 3,122 Acres In Just 5 Hours

A Cave fire in Santa Barbara County California started shortly after 4 P.M. It began near East Camino Cielo and Painted Cave Road in Los Padres National Forest.

By 9 P.M. just five hours after the blaze started it had already chewed through 3,122 acres of land. 10:30 P.M. Santa Barbra County had declared a state of emergency and began an evacuation process for residents nearby.

Spot fires began sprouting around 7:30 P.M. near Highway 154 and Cathedral Oaks Road. This is according to public information officer Mike Eliason.

“As this fire gets pushed down canyon, it’s going to start getting closer to homes”

– Eliason

Local fire departments have banded together to help stop the fire from spreading to homes in the area. Ventura County sent two strike teams and 10 fire engines. The L.A. County fire department sent in a Firehawk helicopter, the chopper can perform night time water drops. Those water drops will be key to stopping this fire.

Bulldozers have been working and hand crews have been digging throughout the night creating containment lines around the perimeter.

The winds are also playing a huge factor with gusts getting up to over 65 mph.

Local Meteorologists are expecting to see some rain Tuesday afternoon or evening.

Our thoughts and prayers here at IMU Media go out to everyone out there working on containing this fire before it can spread to people’s homes.

(Cover photo courtesy of CBS, video courtesy of YouTube and KSBY news source LA Times)