It was one of the worst fires on record on the South Coast.
The Tea Fire burned an estimated 210 homes nine years ago this week.
The fire broke out just before 6 p.m. on a dry hillside about Westmont College in Montecito.
Trespassers reportedly had a small bonfire in the area the night before that never fully extinguished.
70 mile per hour winds reportedly stoked the embers and a massive fire roared through Santa Barbara before it was stopped about five days later by hundreds of firefighters.