Santa Barbara fire doesn't spare Westmont College

[DogPoundPup]

Source: The Sacramento Bee

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Shortly after sunset on Thursday, Tyler Rollema strolled across the Westmont College campus to the cafeteria for dinner.

When 19-year-old sophomore came out at 6 p.m. the small Christian liberal arts college built into the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains was glowing. Within 15 minutes he and 800 other students had taken safety in the gym where they slept on cots and on the floor.

"It came pretty fast," Rollema said of the 2,500-acre inferno, fueled by powerful winds. "We came out and it was just blazing."

The fire set a eucalyptus grove and other trees aflame on the 110-acre wooded campus, most of which is made up of tree-lined paths, open space and gardens. The flames ripped through several buildings housing the physics, math and psychology departments, three dormitories and 14 faculty homes, said college spokesman Scott Craig.

"In about 15 to 20 minutes it was already tearing down the hill," Craig said. "We had embers the size of quarters sticking to eucalyptus and palm trees."

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/1398745.html

[davidinalameda]

1. is anyone going to say the obvious

this was God's judgment on the school?

[kestrel91316]

2. The damned palm trees go up like Roman candles if you don't keep

the dead fronds pruned off, and most folks can't afford to do so anymore........

[jody]

3. Eucalyptus trees, an introduced species that is very invasive, creates a major fire risk in the

fall and winter months.

Add to that CA's notorious winds and it's a disaster waiting to happen.

I wouldn't like to be on the ground nearby when a fire crowns in a large eucalyptus grove.

[lapfog_1]

4. Each Eucalyptus tree hold the equivalent of 1 barrel of oil.

Planting them anywhere in California was a huge mistake.

In the Oakland Hills fire, it was those trees more than any other fuel that kept the fire spreading and burning as hot as it did. People had planted them right next to their homes. I was at NASA at the time and we flew a U2 over the fire with thermal imaging cameras... you could see each tree flare as the fire progressed.

[jody]

5. Thanks for sharing. They're also water hogs and have been used to drain swamps. n/t