The Whittier 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 ...

in the

Santa Ynez Mountains The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges. The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age create ...

, south of

Lake Cachuma Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, ...

, along Highway 154 in

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the United States. The fire was reported on July 8, 2017, at 1:43 pm. Upon containment on July 28, the fire had burned a total of and destroyed 16 homes.

Events

The fire, which was first reported at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, began burning in the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...

in chaparral that hadn't burned in approximately 70 years, according to officials. Reportedly ignited by a vehicle fire, flames jumped Highway 154 and proceed in a southeast direction towards the

. Eighty people, including mostly children, at Circle V Ranch Camp near Lake Cachuma were forced to shelter in place as when it became too late to evacuate. No campers or staff were injured. Throughout the course of the day, the fire had expanded from 330 to over as containment sat at zero-percent. Firefighters set up a command center at Dos Pueblos High School. On the morning of July 9, the fire had burned 7,800 acres and was at 5% containment. Residents along Farren Road inside and west of Goleta were evacuated. 20 structures were destroyed, and a lot of evacuation was done along Highway 154. In the afternoon on July 9, the fire burned down the Rancho Alegre Outdoor School. The fire remained "completely out of control", and sections of Highway 101 received evacuation warnings. Later that day, it was reported that over 3,600 people had evacuated as a result of the Whittier Fire. On the morning of July 10, the fire had burned 10,823 acres and was still at 5% containment. On the morning of July 12, the fire had burned 11,920 acres and was at 48% containment. As of the evening of July 14, the fire was at 52% containment and had burned 13,199 acres. Due to changing weather conditions, the fire spread westward. On July 15, containment had dropped to 35% as the fire was pushed down the mountainside toward Goleta due to sundowner winds. It had burned 17,364 acres. On July 17, containment was at 49% and the fire had burned 18,311 acres. As of September 12, the fire is still not fully contained. It is stuck at 87% containment due to possible hot spots and reports of smoke. The fire was finally contained on October 5. Infrared survey 3 days prior to containment revealed some lingering heat sources, but they are located inside the containment line so the risk of further spread is minimal. In total, 16 homes and 30 outbuildings were destroyed. One home and six outbuildings were damaged.

Gallery

File:Whittier Fire Smoke.JPG, Smoke from the fire covers the sky over Goleta on July 8, 2017. File:Whittier Fire Helicopter.jpg, A helicopter leaving the Whittier Fire, July 11, 2017. File:Whittier Fire from Santa Barbara.jpg, Smoke cloud seen from

Stearns Wharf Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francis ...

in Santa Barbara, July 14, 2017. File:Whittier Fire Burn Area, 2017.jpg, An area the Whittier Fire had burned, July 17, 2017.

References

{{California wildfires 2017 California wildfires Wildfires in Santa Barbara County, California Santa Ynez Mountains History of Santa Barbara County, California July 2017 events in the United States