CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SANTA BARBARA
Firefighters have fully contained the 2-week-old Jesusita fire and are tamping out any remaining embers.
Fog, low temperatures, high humidity levels and low winds helped speed up containment by two days, said David Sadecki, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
A perimeter around the 8,733-acre fire was completed late Monday, he said.
“The weather is the opposite of what it was when this thing started,” Sadecki said, referring to the high heat and winds that stoked the wildfire in its early stages.
Patrols will make sure that smoldering remains are promptly extinguished. Still-glowing embers within a tree stump, for instance, could pose a problem for up to a month, he said.
Ignited May 5 on a hiking trail high in the Santa Barbara foothills, the fire destroyed 80 houses, damaged 15 others and injured 32 firefighters. Authorities believe it was accidentally set by someone clearing brush near the Jesusita trail.
State fire officials estimated the cost to battle the blaze at $20 million.
-- Catherine Saillant
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