Firefighters on Friday nearly reached full containment of the Gibraltar Fire, which broke out early the previous day near Montecito Peak.
As of 9 p.m Friday, the blaze in the mountains above Santa Barbara and Montecito was 90 percent contained, said Manny Madrigal, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.
At the same time, the estimated area charred was dropped to 21 acres from 50 as a result of ongoing mapping efforts in the rugged terrain, Madrigal said.
There was no estimate of when the fire would be fully contained, Madrigal said, noting that crews were still searching out hot spots.
It’s likely that more fire crews will be released from the incident in the morning, he added.
Personnel assigned to the fire numbered 59 Friday night.
Los Padres National Forest is now the lead agency on the fire, and spokesman Andrew Madsen said that Los Padres fire crews had been working to hold and improve containment lines on Friday, as well as douse hot spots within the fire perimeter.
“When old, decadent fuels like chaparral burn, their root systems remain fiery hot and firefighters need to dig down to squirt water and completely extinguish them,” he said.
“Overnight, we’ll have crews keeping an eye on the burn scar in the event of any flare ups.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, he said.
The fire broke out at 5:16 a.m. Thursday in the rugged mountainside near Montecito Peak, a half-mile south of East Camino Cielo.
On Thursday, fire officials had been concerned that winds would push the fire downhill into the Montecito community, but the continuous aggressive aerial assault on the fire, which dropped flame retardant and water on the hillside, and the work of hand crews kept the blaze under control.
High winds were expected Thursday night and into Friday morning, but the fire was kept under control enough that an evacuation warning for Montecito-area residents was lifted by 8 a.m. Friday.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
