The Whittier Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

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 created ...

, south of Lake Cachuma, along Highway 154 in

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

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 Dos Pueblos High School is a public high school located in Goleta, California, northwest of Santa Barbara. Located adjacent to the foothills on the edge of the Goleta Valley in an area known as El Encanto Heights, it serves a student body of app ...

. 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 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...

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 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 in the United States