[Update: Dec. 11, 3:40 p.m.] As the western edge of the Thomas Fire, now about 2 miles to the northeast of Toro Canyon Park, continues to spread to the west, fire crews will begin using Westmont’s campus as a staging ground for operations in the Montecito foothills, according to Westmont College Manager of Media Relations Scott Craig. About 500 firefighters and 100 engines will cycle through the campus as strike teams are assigned to defend structures throughout Montecito, north of Highway 192.
In the rugged terrain to the north and east, air tankers continue to work the ridges of the Santa Ynez Range. According to Incident Command public information office Dave Zaniboni, a Boeing 747 Supertanker and DC-10 were both on hand and flying out of Santa Maria, but radio chatter indicated that dense smoke at altitudes as high as 8,500 feet were hampering their ability to make drops in Toro Canyon, where incident commanders were hoping to hold or at least slow the growth of the blaze.
Much of the vegetation that the Thomas Fire is burning through on its western flank hasn’t burned in upwards of 40 to 100 years. Winds are forecast to kick up again tonight, blowing out of the north and northeast—down canyons and downslope.
[Update: Dec. 11, 1:46 p.m.] A second community meeting will be held at 4 p.m. today at San Marcos High School Auditorium, 4750 Hollister Avenue. Like Sunday’s meeting, incident commanders and the county will update on fire status, evacuations, and air quality, and take questions at the end. Simultaneous translation in Spanish will be available at this meeting.
