Update 4 – Sunday, March 13, 2022 – 1200 PT
Incident Summary — The HOLLISTER FIRE is burning about two miles into Hollister Ranch, a 14,400-acre gated residential community that includes a working cattle ranch on the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California.
The fire was first spotted around 1143 hours on Saturday, March 12, 2022, which prompted Santa Barbara County fire crews to be dispatched to near Gaviota State Park on Hollister Ranch Road to what appeared to be a one-half-acre in size fire in moderate to heavy fuels in steep terrain.
Current Status — Fire has burned 100 acres and crews have reached a 20% containment status. Engine crews and dozers are on the next operational period with aircraft available as needed.
Resources — FIRE – Montecito FD, CSFD, SBCFD, SMFD, Lompoc City FD, CalTrans7. Federal Fire resources dispatched through the Los Padres Communications Center include – BC42LPF, Dozer4LPF, E337LPF, and E3421LPF. POLICE – SBSO.
Current Weather Report — Current weather conditions in the Hollister Ranch area are mostly cloudy skies with temps of 57-degrees with precip at 3%, winds at three miles per hour, and an RH at 74%. (1140 PT)
Evacuations — Alegria and Agua Caliente. Orders will go from Order to Warning effective Sunday, March 13th at 1200 hours PT. This is after an assessment was completed at 1000 hours this morning.
Social Media — There are many different hashtags being used for this incident by various followers including the lead fire agency. For the sake of keeping all of our updates together, we are using the hashtag #HollisterFire .
Previous Fire History in this Area — This area has been hit hard by several wildfires over the years and here is a breakdown of two major ones in recent history.
October 11, 2021 — A fire named the Alisal Fire ignited on October 11, 2021, around 1430 hours from an unknown cause, northwest of Refugio Canyon near Hwy 101 along the Gaviota Coast. After the fire started, it was said to be wind-driven being picked up by strong northwesterly winds which pushed the fire south of the summit, crossing Hwy 101 into Tajiguas Beach.
The fire burned 16,970 acres of land and would not be fully contained until November 20, 2021, around 0834 hours PT. Evacuations for that were west of Arroyo Hondo to the intersection of Hwy 101 and Hwy 1, the Arroyo Hondo Canyon and Regio Canyon, as well as the area between El Capitan Beach State Park and West Camino Cielo were ordered and then downgraded as fire containment increased. Two agencies were in Unified Command: Santa Barbara County FD and the Los Padres National Forest. 12 homes were destroyed along with damages to one residence and one other structure type.
In May 2020 — Another fire with the same name started around 0810 hours on May 7th. The fire would burn for several days and be contained on May 9th ending with being 100% contained and having 156 acres of land burned. The cause appears to have not been determined by Fire Officials (per their website). Lead Agency: Santa Barbara County FD.
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ABOUT HOLLISTER RANCH FIRE SERVICE
The Hollister Ranch area is protected by Hollister Ranch Fire Company and Santa Barbara County Fire Station #18 which is less than one mile from Hwy 101 turnoff to Gaviota and not far from the HR Gatehouse. Fire service was established in 2010, by the HR owners and some of them are volunteer firefighters with the Hollister Ranch Volunteer Fire Department.
FSTI serves as a third-party administrator for the Hollister Ranch Fire Company and Training Center. All Hollister Ranch employees have completed their National Wildland Coordination Group 310-1 basic wildland firefighter training and are now working on their advanced educational training. All employees and over half of Hollister Ranch residents are fully trained and have their basic CPR/AED certifications, which is really impressive! There are six AEDs currently in service.
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