A large air tanker drops a load of retardant Tuesday on the Cave Fire burning in the mountains above Santa Barbara. As of Tuesday morning, the blaze had blackened an estimated 4,330 acres and was 0 percent contained. 
Firefighters keep an eye on a hotspot burning along the roadway Tuesday morning. 
Tuesday’s sunrise is clouded by smoke from the Cave Fire burning in the mountains above Santa Barbara. 
An air tanker drops retardant on the Cave Fire burning in the mountains above Santa Barbara Tuesday morning. Ten tankers and nine helicopters were assigned to the blaze. 
The rising sun is partially blocked by smoke and fire retardant during the Cave Fire on Tuesday morning. 
Smoke and flames from the Cave Fire near the crest of the frontcountry ridgeline in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara. 
The Cave Fire burns in the mountains above Santa Barbara Tuesday. 
Librarian Jen Lemberger distributes N-95 masks at the Santa Barbara Central Library on Tuesday morning. 
Cave Fire smoke blows into Santa Barbara Tuesday. 
The Cave Fire smoke towers above Santa Barbara, as seen from El Sueno Road.
This story was last updated at 6:06 p.m. Tuesday.
Air tankers and helicopters joined the firefight above Santa Barbara on Tuesday as the Cave Fire grew to 4,330 acres by late afternoon, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Containment edged up to 10 percent, said Mike Eliason, a Fire Department spokesman.
The blaze started in Los Padres National Forest near East Camino Cielo and Painted Cave Road Monday afternoon, and was pushed along by strong winds.
Evacuation orders and the Highway 154 closure (between Highway 246 and Highway 192/Foothill Road) remained in effect Tuesday, and Santa Barbara County declared a local emergency.
No homes were damaged as of Tuesday afternoon, although at least one outbuilding was destroyed by the flames, fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said.
About 600 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, as well as 10 air tankers and nine helicopters.
Night-flying helicopters had responded overnight to make water drops and help with structure protection.
The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management interactive map has updated evacuation information as well as the fire perimeter.
The western, Goleta side of the evacuation perimeter was changed at noon Tuesday, Sheriff Bill Brown said, so the evacuation orders affect areas north of Cathedral Oaks Road between Highway 154 and Patterson Avenue, not Fairview Avenue.
“We give a lot during the year for mutual aid, and you do that in the hopes that when you need it, it comes, and it came in droves last evening,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said during an emergency Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
The supervisors approved the proclamation of emergency that the County Executive Office issued late Monday night.
Hartwig said crews focused on life safety and structure protection Monday, not perimeter control, and that containment was still at 0 percent.
“They’ve been keeping it away from people and homes at this point,” he said.
Crews “dug in,” putting themselves between the flames and communities to protect Painted Cave and other neighborhoods near Highway 154 Monday night, Hartwig said. The fact that many residents stayed behind, despite the mandatory evacuation order, raised the stakes, he said.
“It’s at 4,100 acres at this point, and we haven’t lost a single home,” he said.
“We talk a lot about Ready! Set! Go! and evacuations. I’d like to emphasize more of the Ready and the Go, not so much the Set. If you see smoke, if you see fire, you don’t need to be told to go, you can go on your own,” Hartwig said.
The affected neighborhoods are mainly in Los Padres National Forest and have narrow roads, which seem far narrower when driving down them during a fire, Hartwig said.
Firefighters decide if an area is defensible based on whether the homeowner or community has defensible space.
“Painted Cave, as much as any community I’ve seen in my career, takes that seriously,” he said.
There are a lot of dry, receptive fuels — grass, brush and trees — but they’re “trimmed up nicely” near homes, he said.
Wind shifts could push the flames from the current down-slope direction back up toward homes later in the day, he noted.
California State Parks staff installed heat resistant fire blankets at the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park Tuesday to protect the caves and park signs from the fire.
“These fire blankets protect the paintings inside, which are believed to be anywhere between 500-700 years old,” parks staff said.
During a fire information press conference at Earl Warren Showgrounds, Jim Harris of Los Padres National Forest said authorities were “ramping up” as soon as they heard the location of the fire on Monday, since it is a mountainous frontcountry area that has not burned for almost 30 years, since the destructive 1990 Painted Cave Fire.
“This is one of the last slots of old vegetation,” he said, calling it a “nightmare spot” along Highway 154.
“It’s just a really hard difficult piece of country to fight fire in,” he said, adding that the shifting, strong winds added to the challenge.
Brown said the dispatch center received 21 9-1-1 calls reporting the fire within the first minute.
Sheriff’s deputies, law enforcement mutual aid agencies and Search and Rescue Team members contacted thousands of people during evacuations Monday night, and an estimated 5,480 people left their homes, he said.
Brown said authorities will not repopulate evacuation zones on Tuesday, and people can request an escort into the zones to retrieve important items by calling the Sheriff’s Department business line at 805.681.4100.
“I think it’s a good bet for people to figure that they’re going to need to be evacuated through tomorrow at least,” he said Tuesday morning.
About 2,700 parcels and nearly 6,400 people were affected by the evacuation orders, according to Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department.
Kelly Hubbard, the director of emergency management, said 26 people stayed in the evacuation shelter at Goleta Valley Community Center Tuesday night.
Teams are working in the Emergency Operations Center – which is in a mandatory evacuation zone – to prepare for the upcoming rain storm as well as the wildfire, she noted.
Sandbags are available in multiple locations throughout the county.
Santa Barbara City College decided to close its campuses and cancel classes Tuesday and Wednesday, and UC Santa Barbara canceled its classes for Tuesday and the rest of the week as well. Its campus will remain open.
Many Santa Barbara K-12 schools are already closed for the week of Thanksgiving, the Santa Barbara County Office of Education said.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
