Valley helps battle Santa Barbara blaze

A handful of Sonoma Valley firefighters headed south to Santa Barbara early yesterday morning to join a statewide effort to contain a raging wildfire near Santa Barbara.
The “Tea Fire” broke out around 6:30 p.m. Thursday according to Cal Fire officials, who said the fire’s cause was still under investigation. The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services said more than 2,000 acres had burned by 9:20 a.m. Friday, with some 100 homes damaged or destroyed and more than 5,000 evacuated. Three people had been injured by burns and another 10 from smoke inhalation. No estimate was given as to the fire’s containment time.
The California OES maintains a cadre of fire engines throughout the state, including “OES-319” at the Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority – in which fire Capt. Tom Andersen, engineers George Giles and Luke Loftus and firefighter Luke Sweeters departed at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, according to an SVFRA spokesperson.
In addition, SVFRA Division Chief Bob Norrbom and Capt. Sean Lacy were deployed as a strike team leader and leader trainee for a force consisting of engines from the Glen Ellen, Monte Rio, Rancho Adobe, Gold Ridge and Rincon Valley departments.
The Tea Fire is the sixth this year which summoned help from Sonoma Valley’s departments. Others included the Summit Fire in May near Santa Cruz, a Butte County fire in mid-June, and the Telegraph Fire near Yosemite in late July. Crews also spent nearly a month fighting a series of lightning-struck fires that burned a million acres of Northern California wildland from late June to mid-July.