December 2017 Southern California wildfires

December 2017 Southern California wildfires
1
2
3
1
Thomas Fire
2
Rye Fire
3
Creek Fire
Satellite image of the smoke from the Thomas Fire and 2 smaller wildfires, on December 5, 2017.
Date(s)December 4, 2017 – March 22, 2018
LocationSouthern California
Statistics[1]
Total fires29
Total area307,953 acres (1,246.24 km2)
Impacts
Deaths1 firefighter, 1 civilian
Non-fatal injuries12 firefighters, 7 civilians
Structures destroyed1,355 structures
Damage~$3.5 billion (2018 USD)[2][3]
Ignition
CauseDowned power lines, burning debris, illegal cooking fire, others unknown

A series of 29 wildfires ignited across Southern California in December 2017. Six of the fires became significant wildfires, and led to widespread evacuations and property losses. The wildfires burned over 307,900 acres (1,246 km2),[4][5][6][7] and caused traffic disruptions, school closures,[8] hazardous air conditions,[9] and power outages;[10] over 230,000 people were forced to evacuate.[11][12][13][14][15] The largest of the wildfires was the Thomas Fire, which grew to 281,893 acres (1,140.78 km2), and became the largest wildfire in modern California history,[16][17][18][19][20] until it was surpassed by the Ranch Fire in the Mendocino Complex, in the following year.

On December 5, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Ventura and Los Angeles Counties,[21] followed by San Diego County on December 7;[22] U.S. President Donald Trump subsequently declared a State of Emergency for California on December 8.[23]

This swarm of wildfires was exacerbated by unusually powerful and long-lasting Santa Ana winds,[24] as well as large amounts of dry vegetation, due to a then-far unusually dry rainy season thus far. They also occurred at the end of an unusually active and destructive wildfire season; the fires cost at least $3.5 billion (2018 USD) in damages, including $2.2 billion in insured losses and $300 million in fire suppression costs.[2][3]

  1. ^ "2017 Archived Fires". May 25, 2018. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "California wildfire industry losses put at $13.2bn by Aon Benfield". Artemis.bm. January 25, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "California spent nearly $1.8 billion last year fighting major wildfires". Los Angeles Times. March 1, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  4. ^ McLaughlin, Eliott C.; Chavez, Nicole; Vercammen, Paul; Aimasy, Steve (December 8, 2017). "California fires: Two people burned in new blaze". CNN. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  5. ^ "Southern California Fires Live Updates: More Areas Under Siege as Wind Gains Strength". The New York Times. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  6. ^ Winsor, Morgan; Osborne, Mark (December 9, 2017). "Firefighters taming Southern California wildfires as Gov. Brown warns of state's 'new reality'". ABCNews. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "Southern California wildfires still burning as Donald Trump issues federal emergency declaration". ABC News. December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  8. ^ "California Wildfires Upend Exams at Region's Colleges and Heighten Tensions at UCLA". The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  9. ^ "Thomas Fire Smoke Besieges Two Counties". NBC Southern California. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  10. ^ Smith, Sarah Parvini, Dakota. "Some fire hydrants didn't work because of power outages, firefighters say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 14, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Bandler, Aaron (December 8, 2017). "Over 212,000 People Forced to Abandon Their Homes As Southern California Fires Rage On". jewishjournal.com. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  12. ^ "Thomas Fire Quick Update: 12/19/2017, 6:00 PM" (PDF). CalFire. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference near Sylmar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Etehad, Melissa; Nelson, Laura J. (December 5, 2017). "Rye fire spreads to 5,000 acres, triggers evacuations and gridlock in Santa Clarita". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Repard, Pauline (December 8, 2017). "California fires: some San Diego County evacuation orders changed from mandatory to voluntary". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  16. ^ Berman, Mark; Rosenberg, Eli (December 6, 2017). "Ferocious wildfires rage across Southern California as new fire breaks out in Los Angeles". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  17. ^ Berke, Jeremy; Logan, Bryan (December 6, 2017). "Schools and freeways closed, thousands of people forced to flee as multiple wildfires tear through Southern California". Business Insider. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  18. ^ Jones, Judson; Criss, Doug (December 6, 2017). "A look at the California wildfires' jaw-dropping numbers". CNN. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  19. ^ Fuller, Thomas (December 6, 2017). "California Today: Outlier Fires Are Becoming the Norm". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  20. ^ Woodyard, Chris (December 6, 2017). "New brush fire sets homes ablaze in Los Angeles' toniest neighborhoods". USA Today. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference state of emergency was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference path was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference new blaze was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Nelson, Laura J.; Hamilton, Matt; Tchekmedyian, Alene (December 6, 2017). "Santa Ana winds roar through Southern California, whipping fires on destructive path". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved December 6, 2017.