Rebuilding efforts are underway for the Rancho Alegre Boy Scout Camp and Outdoor School near Lake Cachuma, which were destroyed by the Whittier Fire a year ago.
When the fast-moving blaze broke out on July 8, 2017, along the Highway 154 corridor near Lake Cachuma, it swept through the site operated by the Los Padres Council of the Boy Scouts of America and scorched buildings in its path.
Rancho Alegre, at 2680 Highway 154, is about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara and 15 miles south of Solvang.
The Whittier Fire destroyed about 90 percent of the buildings at the 213-acre property — two days before summer camps were scheduled to start.
Within a month of the damage, the Boy Scouts of America’s Los Padres Council announced it planned to rebuild, and the group held a formal groundbreaking ceremony at the camp in late June to kick off the recovery project.
The project is expected to be completed by October 2019, said Carlos Cortez, chief executive officer and Scout executive for Los Padres Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Cortez said the blaze destroyed 47 of its 50 structures on July 8, 2017. Those buildings were used by church groups and nonprofit organizations annually, as well as the Boy Scouts for archery, swimming and rowing, crafts, astronomy, camping, hiking and education about the native plants and animals.
New facilities will include a Discovery Center, where young learners can apply what they learn outdoors to science experiments, and the camp will have a climbing tower course.
Cortez said solar energy farming is planned to provide electricity and educational lessons.
“As we move forward, we want people to see Rancho Alegre as not just a boy Scout Camp and the Outdoor School site, but as a community resource for families that want an outdoor experience, or come up for the day and enjoy the facility, or want to camp in a safe environment,” Cortez said.
Fire-retardant building materials will be used to ensure the structures can survive fires, Cortez said.
“Fire resistant isn’t acceptable anymore, fire-retardant is the material that we want to use now,” he said. “If we ever have an emergency or issue again, our buildings are going to withstand the heat and fire much better than in the past.”
The total estimated project cost is $16 million, and insurance is expected to cover about $9 million of that, Cortez said.
“There’s going to be about a $7-million gap that we have to make up to get the ranch to complete operations,” he said. “We are going to need the community behind us.”
Since its operation in 1952, the Outdoor School has been used annually by more than 4,000 fifth- and sixth-grade students who spent a day, an overnight or a week there learning about nature.
Stantec — a global architecture, engineering, consulting, and construction firm — has aided the rebuilding effort by conducting aerial mapping and developing a stormwater management plan to mitigate the impacts of rain over the fire-damaged watershed, according to Ryan Lamont, a company spokesman.
Lamont said the firm also is leading design services to rebuild facility infrastructure including water, sewers and roadways in alignment with Rancho Alegre’s master plan to establish the groundwork for a sustainable new Outdoor School.
“Our vision is to design and build a sustainable camp so that it may serve the community for the next 50 years,” said Buddy Hain, senior civil engineer, based in Stantec’s Santa Maria office. “Many people within the community have had great experiences at Rancho Alegre, including our own staff and their children.”
The 18,430-acre Whittier Fire was fully contained in October 2017, nearly three months after it started near Camp Whittier.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
