For only the second time in history, Apple has postponed an announced grand opening of a retail store, leaving an quiet space at 928 State Street in Santa Barbara (Calif.). After a long process of building permit approvals, construction and personnel hiring, the store was scheduled to open this Saturday at 10 a.m. However, on Wednesday county officials expanded a evacuation warning area to within 600 feet of the downtown store, which is about two miles from where the fire started Tuesday in the foothills overlooking the city. Over 20,000 residents have been evacuated from the coastal town, electric power is unreliable, and blowing soot and smoke have turned the downtown uninhabitable. Weather conditions over the weekend will be crucial to allow firefighters to control the fire. Apple’s Web site says only that the opening , “has been postponed. Check back soon for new opening details.” The International Plaza (Fla.) store grand opening was postponed after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Check the evacuation map after the break.
This map shows the mandatory (dark orange) and warning (light orange) evacuation areas for the Jesusita fire at its peak, May 8, 2009 at noon. The Apple store location was within 600 feet of the warning area and about 1.4 miles from the closest burn area.
View Santa Barbara Fire Evacuation in a larger map
