Firefighters made a lot of progress Monday with the Whittier brush fire, going from 49% to 62% containment. The blaze has burned more than 18,000 acres of land south of Lake Cachuma. The focus Monday was on the northwest corner of the fire, which is in backcountry areas of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Past brush fires on other sides of the blaze’s perimeter have aided containment efforts, by reducing fuel for the now 11 day old fire. Meanwhile, firefighters are winding down the battle against the Alamo brush fire, northeast of Santa Maria. That fire burned about 29,000 acres of brush, with containment at 98%. Final mopup efforts could take some time still, but most of the firefighters involved with the fire are being released. Highway 166 reopened last week after being closed for several days by the blaze which started on July 6th.
Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.