Painted Cave Fire
The Painted Cave Fire was a devastating wildfire in June, 1990 that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains and the city of Santa Barbara, within Santa Barbara County, California.
The fire, which began near Painted Cave, was intentionally set near the intersection of Highway 154 and Painted Cave Road, burned, destroyed 427 buildings, and resulted in two deaths.
Progression
The day had already been a long one for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department which had battled a 3-alarm fire in the county dump. While still mopping up from the dump fire, the call went out at 6:02 p.m. for a brush fire on Highway 154 and Painted Cave Road. On this Wednesday evening temperatures topped off at degrees, an all-time record for that date, fueling some of the worst sundowner winds ever recorded. The first engine arrived on scene at 6:05 p.m. and was met with winds gusting over with about actively burning. Less than 20 minutes later, the fire had traveled over and flames were reaching into the air.The fire proceeded into residential neighborhoods of Santa Barbara, fueled by sundowner winds, eventually jumping U.S. Route 101 at 7:42PM. In less than two hours the fire had traveled nearly, destroying 430 structures and killing one person. It was the largest loss of structures since the Bel Air Fire of 1961. The state fire marshal called it the "fastest-moving fire of its type ever in the United States."
There were two fatalities in the fire. Andrea Lang Gurka, age 37, died while fleeing the flames along San Marcos Pass Road. An unnamed state prisoner working as a firefighter also died.