The day had already been a long one for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department which had battled a 3-alarm fire in the county dump . While still mopping up from the dump fire , the call went out at 6:02 pm for a brush fire on Highway 154 and Painted Cave Road . On this Wednesday evening temperatures topped off at 109 degrees , an all-time record for that date , fueling some of the worst sundowner winds ever recorded . The first engine arrived on scene at 6:05 pm and was met with winds gusting over with about actively burning . Less than 20 minutes later , the fire had traveled over and flames were reaching into the air . The fire proceeded into residential neighborhoods of Santa Barbara , fueled by sundowner winds , eventually jumping U.S. Route 101 at 7:42 PM . In less than two hours the fire had traveled nearly , destroying 430 structures and killing one person . It was the largest loss of structures since the Bel Air Fire of 1961 . The state fire marshal called it the " fastest-moving fire of its type ever in the United States . " The sole fatality of the fire , Andrea Lang Gurka , age 37 , died while fleeing the flames along San Marcos Pass Road
Bel Air Fire
Bel Air Fire
Painted Cave Fire