 Hello everyone I'm Sean Boyd in the Cal OES newsroom. Mutual aid fire crews are gaining ground on the Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and as I read this it is 60% contained at 272,000 acres. Many road closures remain in effect however in and around the Montecito and Summerland areas but there is some good news in all of this. All evacuation orders and warnings in Santa Barbara County have been lifted as of today December 21st. Now that means many of the 14,000 people who were evacuated are being allowed in but not without the support of caring counselors offering a shoulder to lean on. Evacuees from some neighborhoods hit by the Thomas fire are slowly being allowed to return home. Cassie Spath gets clearance to pass the roadblock and go home for the first time since she was forced to flee the fire. She has no idea if her house survived. It didn't. The house Cassie shared with her son Zach is a complete loss. I don't know what we do now you know we it was a rental but it was our home. Somewhere in all this rubble it was a kind of a bluish greenish pottery. There is just one thing she's praying survived her son's grandfathers earned. My son we were we spent a year saving money to go to the Redwoods for Christmas and he wanted to spread his grandfather's ashes and they were in the kitchen. Father John Hedges a volunteer grief counselor pitches in to carefully search for what may no longer exist calling on a higher power for help. I I said oh okay Lord you got to do this one. Father Hedges is one of many Santa Barbara County mental health professionals dispatched to this repopulation area. They're there to provide on-site support helping residents get through their immediate crisis and offer resources to those who need longer term care. Everyone reacts to disasters differently and crises a little bit differently and we understand that so we're hand in hand shoulder and shoulder for those who want us there and we're just kind of on the sidelines for those who aren't quite ready for our kind of support. More than 14,000 people remain evacuated just before Christmas. The Thomas fire started on December 4th and so far has destroyed 770 homes and damaged 207. Many more people are going to need counseling and here in Santa Barbara County these volunteers will be there for them. I got it. I got it. I got it. You got it? I got it. Under all this debris we find the urn. Oh my. I got it. Oh my. Oh my. Found it. Oh thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm so happy for you. This is a bright moment for him. You know there are those days where there is the reward of a comfort and this was a day like that. We found my son's grandfather's urn and it's so important to him. You have no idea. We're going to Christmas to the redwoods to spread his ashes. So thank God we found that. Resources are available to those affected by all of the wildfires but for now let's stick to the Thomas fire. Santa Barbara County's Department of Behavioral Wellness has counselors ready to help. Their website is county of sb.org or you can simply call them at 888-868-1649. In Ventura County it's vchca.org and their number 866-998-2243. Cal Fire site ready for wildfire.org is of course very helpful and our own site Cal OES Resources website is called wildfirerecovery.org and it has a wealth of information for everyone affected by the wildfires both in northern and southern California. Now we'll have all of that contact information and a lot more on our website oesnews.com. Thanks for taking the time to watch this episode of Inside Look for Everyone here at Cal OES. I'm Sean Boyd take care. From across the state by following Cal OES