Firefighters halt forward progress of Mesa fire at 35 acres – Lompoc Record

Firefighters assisted by helicopters and an air tanker quickly got a handle on a fast-moving vegetation fire that broke out in light to medium brush Monday afternoon in the 8000 block of Foxen Canyon Road.

Capt. Dave Zaniboni, of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said firefighters stopped the forward progress of the flames by 5:25 p.m.

The blaze, dubbed the Mesa fire, was estimated at more than 50 acres about 4:15 p.m., but a later report from an AirTac aircraft surveying the area downgraded the acreage to about 35 acres, Zaniboni said.

The wind-driven fire broke out about 2:55 p.m. near Zaca Mesa Winery and burned along both sides of Foxen Canyon Road, up through Oak Savanna Vineyard property and eastward toward the entrance to Zaca Lake Retreat.

The cause is under investigation.

When county Fire Department firefighters arrived, flames were raging through dry grass and oaks, with spot fires breaking out 50 to 100 yards ahead of the main blaze as the wind blew embers east/southeast.

The flames made a rushing sound as they consumed oak trees, sent spirals of flame up from the dry grass and poured thick smoke into the sky while they raced eastward along the hillside adjacent to the Zaka Lake access road.

First responders said with the rapid rate of spread, the fire had the potential to grow to 300 to 400 acres, and they upgraded the blaze to a two-alarm fire as County Sheriffs Office and California Highway Patrol units closed Foxen Canyon Road between Zaca Station and Alisos Canyon roads on the Santa Ynez Valley side as well as on the north side of the blaze.

Ten engines, two water tenders and two hand crews attacked the blaze, assisted by two water-dropping helicopters and four air tankers diverted from the Whittier fire, with the helicopters sucking up water from a pond just over the hill immediately south of the fire.

A crew of half a dozen firefighters also was delivered to the site by helicopter and began trekking east along the Zaca Lake access road.

It looks like theyre going to knock this one down pretty quick, said Larry Saarloos of Windmill Ranch & Vineyard on Ballard Canyon Road, one of a number of local ranchers, vineyard owners and residents who stopped their pickup trucks along Foxen Canyon Road to watch firefighters attack the blaze.

But theyve got some good water service here, Saarloos added, referring to the nearby pond where the helicopters could refill, then return to the fire lines in a matter of minutes.

Zaniboni predicted the flames would run out of fuel as they burned toward grazed-off fields and vineyard property, and indeed they ground to a halt under the aerial assault and lack of fuels half a mile or so east.

Zaniboni said no structures were damaged or threatened.

He added that crews would stay on the fire overnight for mop-up and to watch for hot spots.

Lee Central Coast Newspapers reporter April Charltoncontributed to this story. Follow her on Twitter@WordsDawn.

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Firefighters halt forward progress of Mesa fire at 35 acres - Lompoc Record