Fire burning near Santa Barbara grows to 13,400 acres

Smoke from the Alisal Fire.
(Image credit: Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire via AP)

The Alisal Fire burning north of Santa Barbara, California, is threatening 120 structures, including Rancho del Cielo, the vacation home once used by former President Ronald Reagan.

As of Tuesday night, the fire, which started on Monday afternoon, has burned 13,400 acres, and is only 5 percent contained, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said. The flames have jumped the 101 freeway, which is shut down in both directions.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.