A resident at the Rancho La Scherpa retreat center accidentally caused the wildfire that charred some 7,500 acres along the Gaviota Coast last year, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The resident at the retreat center high in Refugio Canyon was burning a log in an indoor fireplace on June 15 when it began to fill the cabin with smoke, said fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni.
The resident, whose name was not released, carried the burning log outside to douse it, when embers fell to the ground and ignited the vegetation, he added.
Due to windy conditions at the time, the flames quickly spread, and eventually blackened 7,474 acres before being fully contained more than a month later.
The fire prompted the evacuation of hundreds of rural residents and three campgrounds, and twice forced the shutdown of Highway 101 along the coast.
Suppression costs totaled in excess of $18 million.
The first reports of the blaze were received at about 3:30 p.m. on June 15, with dispatchers noting that flames started close to some buildings at Rancho La Scherpa, a Christian conference center on the 2500 block of Refugio Road near the top of Refugio Canyon.
(The spelling of the fire’s name caused some confusion, as the letter “c” was left out of Scherpa when the incident was officially named shortly after it broke out, and fire commanders stuck with the misspelling.)
Fire officials previously had said the investigation into the fire was not criminal, and sources had told Noozhawk shortly after the blaze broke out that it was human-caused and accidental.
At the peak, nearly 2,200 fire personnel were assigned to the fire, and nine firefighters were injured battling the blaze, none seriously.
The delay in releasing the cause of the fire was due to legal and liability issues, Zaniboni said.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
