The Skirball Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

that burned in the Bel Air neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The fire burned 422 acres (171 ha) of land on the slopes of the

Sepulveda Pass Sepulveda Pass (elevation ) is a low mountain pass through the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles. It is named after the Sepúlveda family of California, a prominent Californio family that owned the land where the pass lies. It connects the ...

on its east or Bel Air side, causing the closure of Interstate 405 (as well as the parallel

Sepulveda Boulevard Sepulveda Boulevard is a major street and transportation corridor in the City of Los Angeles and several other cities in western Los Angeles County, California. The street parallels Interstate 405 for much of its route. Portions of Sepulveda Bou ...

), a major traffic artery in the city. The

Skirball Cultural Center The Skirball Cultural Center, founded in 1996, is a Jewish educational institution in Los Angeles, California. The center, named after philanthropist-couple Jack H. Skirball and Audrey Skirball-Kenis, features a museum with regularly changing e ...

Bel-Air Country Club The Bel-Air Country Club is a social club located in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. The property includes an 18-hole golf course and tennis courts. The golf course is the home course for the UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic team ...

, Getty Center,

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

, and various private schools were closed as a result of the fire. Classes were cancelled at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA) and

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...

, while

Mount Saint Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University (The Mount) is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It includes the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. The undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, ...

evacuated from its Brentwood campus to its downtown Los Angeles location. The fire destroyed six structures and damaged 12. On December 10, at about 1 p.m. PST, all evacuation orders and road closures for the Skirball Fire were lifted, as containment of the wildfire increased to 85%. Late on December 15, it was reported that the Skirball Fire had been 100% contained, at . On December 12, it was reported on that the fire had been sparked by an illegal cooking fire at a homeless encampment within the pass. During the Skirball Fire, firefighters in the

LAFD The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

employed drones to help them combat wildfires for the first time. This fire threatened the home of

Frank Luntz Frank Ian Luntz (born February 23, 1962) is an American political and communications consultant and pollster, best known for developing talking points and other messaging for Republican causes. His work has included assistance with messagin ...

, the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

political consultant who had previously sought to downplay the severity of the

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

crisis. He later cited this experience as an "example of the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to u ...

made personal," and shifted his viewpoint to advocate for climate action.

Containment progress

References

External links

SDSC WiFire Interactive Map
��San Diego Supercomputer Center
Recording of LAFD initial attack radio communications
{{California wildfires * 2017 California wildfires 2017 in Los Angeles Bel Air, Los Angeles December 2017 events in the United States December 2017 Southern California wildfires Environment of Greater Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles Wildfires in Los Angeles County, California History of the University of California, Los Angeles

Containment progress

See also

References

External links