Montecito braced for fire, but mud was a more stealthy, deadly threat
When the Thomas fire swept down from the Los Padres National Forest and took aim at this coastal town in December, the looming disaster was impossible to miss. Powerful winds picked up, smoke shielded the sun and brought an eerie darkness to the landscape, and towers of flames could be seen in the distance. Thousands of residents fled as what would become the largest fire on record in California pushed to the Pacific Ocean. More than two dozen homes were lost or damaged in the area, but no one died in the town. The mudslides that followed the fire this week were a much more stealthy and ultimately lethal threat. Though residents had been warned about heavy rain and potential debris flows, many took the threat far less seriously than…
