A small vegetation fire forced the closure of Highway 154 north of Santa Barbara for several hours Saturday afternoon, and evacuation orders were issued for the Trout Club and Painted Cave areas.
Personnel from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Los Padres National Forest and other agencies were dispatched to the incident, dubbed the Trout Fire, at 3:20 p.m.
Santa Barbara County officials said an evacuation order had been issued for the Trout Club and Painted Cave areas near Highway 154 and North San Marcos Road before firefighters stopped the blaze’s forward movement.
“Do not wait,” the county Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter. “Heed order & leave now.”
Sheriff’s deputies and Search and Rescue team volunteers were assisting with the evacuations, officials said.
Authorities canceled the evacuation order at 6:40 p.m., nearly two hours after it was issued.
The fire reportedly sparked in the 2500 block of Highway 154, below San Marcos Pass, and was reportedly less than 2 acres in size. Multiple aircraft were on the scene assisting ground crews.
“We’ve got a lot of resources there,” county fire spokesman Mike Eliason said.
Downed power lines and the fire’s location down in a canyon made it difficult for firefighters to access the blaze, he added.
Highway 154 was closed between Highway 246 and West Camino Cielo, according the California Highway Patrol. The roadway reopened just before 6:30 p.m. but drivers were urged to avoid the area since fire crews remained in the area performing mop-up chores.
People leaving the Chumash Inter-Tribal Pow-Wow at Live Oak Camp, west of San Marcos Pass, were instructed to the avoid the pass heading back to Santa Barbara. As a result, heavy traffic was reported on Highway 246 through Solvang between Highways 154 and 101.
A National Weather Service forecast predicting dangerous sundowner winds for later Saturday has authorities concerned, officials said.
“They’ll be babysitting it all night because of the forecasted winds,” Eliason said.
Fire crews were staging at Old San Marcos Road in case the winds stirred up embers to reignite the blaze, according to emergency dispatch reports.
A wind advisory is in effect through 3 a.m. Sunday, with winds of 15-30 mph expected and gusts to 45 mph.
The weather service said the strongest winds are forecast for the Gaviota coast west of Refugio Canyon. Late Saturday, the winds are expected to shift to the Montecito foothills.
While responding to the incident, a CHP vehicle and Search and Rescue vehicle collided, but no one was injured in the crash.
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— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
