UC Santa Barbara has cancelled classes for the rest of the week due to the growing Cave Fire in the Santa Barbara hills, emphasizing that the campus would continue to remain open and operational regardless. 

N95 masks will be available for students, staff and faculty at Student Health, the Associated Students Ticket Office in the University Center and the Pardall Center in Isla Vista. Max Abrams / Daily Nexus

Classes will resume on Dec. 2, after Thanksgiving break. 

Chancellor Henry T. Yang sent an email to the student body at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, announcing that classes would be canceled but that the fire “currently poses no threat to our campus.” He also said that air quality in the area was “within acceptable range.” 

He added in the email that classes had been cancelled due to the “Thanksgiving holiday, concerns about weather and travel, and the evacuation of some faculty and staff.”

“Although the campus is safe, we will give staff maximum flexibility to take paid leave if they need it through the Emergency Leave policy. I urge administrators and supervisors at all levels to exercise maximum flexibility for staff who are affected by the Cave fire,” Yang wrote. 

He also confirmed that campus residence halls and apartments will remain open, and said that individual offices on campus would be sending out follow-up information to answer students’ questions regarding housing and classes.

N95 masks will be available for students, staff and faculty at Student Health, the Associated Students Ticket Office in the University Center and the Pardall Center in Isla Vista. 

Yang said that campus officials have been in touch with the county and the fire department, who reassured the university that “the campus remains safely out of the path of the fire.”

As of now, all flights in and out of the Santa Barbara Airport will continue as scheduled, Yang said in the email, adding that any updates regarding travel plans could be found at readysbc.org.

“We regret the stress this fire event has caused, not just for those on campus, but also for our families here in the Santa Barbara and Goleta area, especially those who are evacuated,” he said in the email. 

Santa Barbara City College also cancelled classes this morning for Tuesday and Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution” and due to the Cave Fire.

Updates on evacuation areas are available here.

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Sanya Kamidi
Sanya Kamidi serves as the Deputy News Editor and before that was a Social Media Manager. Loves coffee and will find any excuse to miss class for the Nexus. She can be reached at skamidi@dailynexus.com or @skamidi on Twitter.