Cooler Weather Helps Shift Sherpa Firefight From Containment To Control

SANTA BARBARA (CBSLA.com) — As the San Gabriel Complex fire continues to burn in Azusa and Duarte, fire officials managing the Sherpa Fire near Santa Barbara say they are shifting from containment to fire control.

The Sherpa Fire, which erupted a week ago, has burned nearly 8,000 acres west of Goleta in the Los Padres National Forest but is at 89 percent containment, US Forest Service officials said Wednesday. At its height, the fire threatened 270 structures, but just one was destroyed.

Nine injuries were reported.

The US Forest Service says the firefighting efforts were helped by the cooler weather and increased humidity across the area.

Mandatory evacuation areas were reduced to warning areas Wednesday, but are still only open to landowners, residents and their farm laborers. Those areas include Calle Lippizana east to Farren Road, Las Llagas Canyon, Gato Canyon, Las Varas Canyon, Dos Pueblos Canyon and Eagle Canyon.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.