areas. For the next eleven days, the fire burned daily. About 2,500 to 3,000 firefighters were ultimately brought in to the Matilija Fire, coming from eight forests around the West. As many as 1,200 personnel were on the fire line at any one time. There were few roads into this area, and the rugged terrain and thick vegetation made access difficult. Supplies had to be transported by pack mules and horses, or dropped from airplanes. Bulldozers were also used in an attempt to open new roads, but this effort was largely unsuccessful. By September 10, the fire had reached south nearly to the Pacific Ocean, had jumped west into the upper Santa Ynez River drainage, and was advancing swiftly east into the Sespe Creek drainage. A wall of flame wide swept down Sespe Creek, burning as much as in a single hour. By the evening of September 10 the fire was at with no containment. Hand crews cut of line around the perimeter of the fire, but high winds repeatedly blew fire past the containment lines and progress was extremely slow. Three fire camps were destroyed and a fourth was narrowly saved. By September 13, the fire had burned as far north as Reyes Peak (near Pine Mountain), and the lookout tower there was destroyed. By September 18, it had reached Santa Paula Peak, more than east of Matilija Creek. The fire lookout there was threatened, but was saved by a backfire at the last minute. Fire activity finally decreased around September 18, when the Santa Ana winds ceased. A heavy fog came in from the Pacific Ocean, elevating humidity, and by September 20, crews had managed to cut a line around the entire fire and contain it. Aftermath The fire ultimately cost $120,000 ($2.3 million today) in suppression costs. A total of were burned, including outside national forest lands. The burn area stretched from east to west and from north to south, reaching as far as Carpinteria on the southwest and nearly to Fillmore on the east. Despite the size of the fire, there were no fatalities and only two serious injuries during the firefighting effort. This was attributed to the fact that "this was the first large fire in California where most of the firefighters were members of trained crews." U.S. Forest Service officials cited inadequate fire lookout coverage as the primary reason for the failure to control