Santa Barbara County suffered its fourth major fire in the last two years, the last installment, an 8,733 acre blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains.

Nearly 30,000 residents were forced out of their homes, and another 20,000 faced voluntary evacuations, as firefighters from across the state fought to contain the fire.

It destroyed or damaged 100 homes and cost the community about $13.5 million dollars to contain, of which 75-percent will be paid for by the federal government.

“This is probably the worst emergency we’ve had in Santa Barbara for the last 25 years,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said last Thursday in a press conference.

Fire officials are unsure what caused the blaze or who may be responsible, but they suspect that some sort of power tool being used in the brush caused the fire.

The fire started at around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday in the Cathedral Peak area. Intense sundowner winds helped the fire grow substantially in its first few days.

City College was forced to close its doors on Friday and Saturday, because so many people were affected by the fire, and unable to show up to work. An air quality warning was issued by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.

Santa Barbara had the worst air quality in the country last Thursday, according to AirNow, a U.S. government Web site.

The blaze injured 28 firefighters, a number fire officials are content with, given the enormous size of the fire.

A DC-10 fire aircraft was deployed last Friday to help contain the blaze. It made a total of four drops-all with about 12,000 gallons of water or fire retardant per drop.

The governor declared a state of emergency for Santa Barbara, when he came down to the area on Thursday.

The decision means that the Federal government will pay 75-percent of fire costs, a clause in accordance with FEMA’s Fire Management Assistance Grant Program.

“Putting out these fires is a top priority for me, and to have everybody coordinated is a top priority for me, and I will always be right there when the fire starts and I want to let you know that we’re thinking of you…” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a Santa Barbara press conference Thursday.

Later that day, however, the fire jumped Highway 154, causing officials to expand mandatory evacuation zones as far west as Patterson Avenue, with voluntary zones expanding to Fairview Avenue. On Saturday, voluntary evacuation zones included all of downtown Santa Barbara. It appeared that only residents living on the West Side, and the Mesa were safe from the blaze.

Eleven air tankers and 15 helicopters assisted the 110 fire crews and 500 fire engines contain the blaze.

The American Red Cross, ran shelters to help victims that had to leave their homes at a moments notice.

Residents were constantly told by firefighters to conserve water so that firefighters can try and maintain the water levels in the reservoirs. Power outages were also common.

As of Tuesday morning, the Jesusita fire is 80-percent contained with full containment expected Wednesday, however fire officials still warn that flare ups are possible, as sundowner winds are expected to pick up.