In a post on X, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Scott Safechuck explained how good defensible space at the Zaca Lake Resort helped firefighters defend the resort's structures from the flames.

A helicopter drops retardant on the fire burning near Zaca Lake on Friday afternoon. Credit: Ray Ford / Noozhawk photo Firefighters continued battling a large, fast-moving vegetation fire in the ...

The Lake Fire, which started July 5 near Zaca Lake, chewed through 38,664 acres, or more than 60 square miles, U.S. Forest Service officials said in their final update on July 27. The fire was 90% ...

The fire started around 4 p.m. Friday, July 5, near Zaca Lake, in Los Padres National Forest. Its cause is under investigation. The fire’s western edge was within a mile of the former Michael ...

The "Zaca Fire" began accidentally 15 miles northeast of Buellton on the morning of July 4 and by presstime had burned more than 200,000 acres. Santa Barbara County, CA, Aug. 20, 2007 — The ...

Paul Cronshaw watches the progress on Day 2 of the 2007 Zaca Fire from near McKinley Springs in the Santa Barbara backcountry. (Ray Ford photo) From the top of La Cumbre Peak, in the evening light ...

LIVE OAK COMMAND POST — It was Day 42 of the Zaca Fire. A tower of white smoke reached miles into the blue sky above the undulating ridges of Santa Barbara’s backcountry. Helicopters ferried ...

For a blaze that turned out to be historic in proportions-it was the county’s largest and the state’s second largest, at least in recorded history-it is remarkable how quickly the Zaca Fire has faded ...

Nearly 500 Montecito residents jammed into El Montecito Presbyterian Church on Monday night to hear a Montecito Fire District briefing on the Zaca Fire, now crouching at Montecito’s back door. The ...

Sparks from a metal grinder jumped into dry grass, triggering the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara County in 2007 — one of the largest in state history. Chains hanging from a boat or truck trailer can ...

A brush fire that erupted in Santa Barbara County three weeks ago, sending towering columns of smoke over Los Padres National Forest land, ended up burning more than 38,000 acres, authorities said ...