As smoke from the Madre Fire continues to drift over northern Santa Barbara County, a small operation just miles from downtown Santa Maria became one of the firefight’s most important assets: the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base.
In total, the agency has delivered a little over half a million gallons of retardant.
The Madre Fire ignited on July 2 near Gypsum Canyon and Cuyama Highway, west of New Cuyama.
It quickly spread eastward, burning through Los Padres National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands before being brought under partial control through a coordinated air and ground attack.
“The Madre Fire is currently sitting at 80,786 burned acres,” said Chip Faver, Madre Fire Public Information Officer. “We have 74% containment, and there’s approximately 1,183 personnel currently assigned to the fire.”
Over the Fourth of July weekend, hundreds of thousands of gallons of retardant were dropped from the sky, according to the latest numbers from Madre Fire officials.
July 3: 140,374 gallons
July 4: 257,920 gallons
July 5: 73,321 gallons
July 6: 180,729 gallons
4 day total: 652,344 gallons
When the Madre Fire sparked, the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base launched into full-scale operations. Tanker aircraft flew continuous missions to and from the fire perimeter — loading, refueling, and redeploying in rapid succession.
“As soon as the Madre Fire was reported, operations at the air tanker base just went into full mode,” said Andrew Madsen, a spokesperson for Los Padres National Forest. “At one point, we had as many as 11 air tankers that were getting reloaded and refueled at Santa Maria Air Tanker Base and within a half-hour turnaround time, were able to drop on the fire, return, and get reloaded.”
Unlike some aircraft systems that mix fire retardant during flight, Santa Maria’s base uses a pre-mixed formula, loaded directly onto the aircraft before deployment.
“This is pretty much business as usual for the fire agencies,” Faver said. “We roll to these and we’re prepared, and we’ve got the professional firefighters at our disposal to do this.”
Beyond the extreme weather and terrain, what made the Madre Fire unique was the lack of competing fires in the state at the time. That meant resources were readily available, including aircraft that may have otherwise been stretched thin.
“I think the main difference we saw with the Madre Fire was that it was the only active incident in the state of California at the time,” Madsen said. “So we were able to use as much resources as we felt necessary in order to suppress the fire.”
The fire also prompted a multi-agency unified command, involving Los Padres National Forest, CAL FIRE, and the Bureau of Land Management. While much of the burn occurred on BLM land in the Carrizo Plain, officials say jurisdiction was never a concern.
“We share a partnership to put out fires, regardless of whose territory they’re on,” Madsen said. “It initially burned about 10,000 acres within the forest boundary before moving east onto the plain.”
Now, with containment lines holding, fire crews are shifting into the rehabilitation phase, starting with fencing, drainage, and slope stabilization in burned areas.
“We’re transitioning to a rehabilitation phase on this fire here in the north area,” Faver said. “All of this black line represents containment. We’ll be repairing fences, putting in water bars, and returning the land to its normal state before the fire.”
While helicopters continue to patrol and drop water, Faver says fixed-wing aircraft are only being used when necessary.
“At this point, we are not using fixed-wing aircraft unless it’s required,” he said. “So at this point, we’re just putting water on it with helicopters.”
As of this week, Highway 166 has reopened to traffic, but fire crews are asking the public to proceed with extreme caution.
“Highway 166 has been reopened,” Faver said. “We’d like the public to use caution in driving through that area. There are still firefighters on the roadway, and there’s work still progressing.”
Though it was one of the largest fires the region has seen in recent years, Faver says the crews on the ground and in the air were ready.
“We’re glad to be of service and this is why we do it," he said. "We come out to support these local communities and make sure that we can do the best we can to put them in good shape to go forward.”
There has been only one minor injury reported, and no loss of life or homes directly attributed to the fire outcomes, which responders say reflects the scale and coordination of their efforts.
Angelo Torres, a Santa Maria resident who has lived near the base for 15 years, says the sounds of the aircraft aren’t an issue for him, considering the work that they do.
“In regard to the swiftness and professionalism with them, I’m very thankful to have these guys serving our community and taking care of it,” Torres said.
