SANTA BARBARA — Thousands of Santa Barbara residents were allowed to return home Saturday as morning fog and drizzle gave firefighters the upper hand in their assault on the 5-day-old Jesusita fire, which stretches for five miles.
Erratic winds and high temperatures last week had stoked the blaze and led officials to order the evacuation of 30,500 people in an enormous swath of the city. Officials said about half that number were able to go home.
Firefighters said the fire was about 40% contained and -- with no predictions today for the sundowner winds that had driven embers down the canyons -- could be fully contained by Wednesday.
"The saving grace is lack of wind," said Tom Franklin, the Santa Barbara County fire chief. "Should the wind shift or weather change, there's always an opportunity for that fire to take off."
Firefighters stalled the blaze on the east and west. But they are concerned the northern front will be harder to stop as it moves into rugged terrain, and they plan to keep many of the 4,321 firefighters and equipment operators on the scene.
On Saturday night, authorities offered their most detailed assessment of the devastation: 8,733 acres burned, 31 homes destroyed, 47 others damaged and two outbuildings ruined. The fire has cost $4.3 million to fight.
Two firefighters suffered minor cuts Friday, bringing the total injured to 13. Only two have been seriously injured, and they remain hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks.
Residents rejoiced, but prayed for the sundowner winds to stay dormant.
"I still have my cat here, my husband and my house," said Sofia Galina, 70, as she stood in the frontyard of her untouched home on Jesusita Lane, cutting red roses speckled with white ash. "It feels good. I'm glad everything is over."
The skies above Santa Barbara were clearer, but smoke still billowed from the loftiest peaks.
From Foothill Road the sweeping view of the city's magnificent backdrop -- the steeply folded Santa Ynez Mountains -- was of a wasteland, singed brown and dusted white.
Pointing to Inspiration Point high on the Jesusita Trail, which gave the fire its name, Jennifer Ellison said, "Now it's completely burned out, and it's not inspirational anymore."
The 46-year-old mortgage broker had been allowed to return to her house on Montrose Place, a street that is lush with bougainvillea, rosebushes, oleanders and pines. The house, near Mission Canyon, survived, but several nearby homes had burned to the ground. In front of one was a soot-covered stuffed elephant.
