Thomas Fire

Thomas Fire
Part of the December 2017 Southern California wildfires
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2
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Thomas Fire
2
Rye Fire
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Creek Fire
A Terra satellite photo of the smoke plumes from the Thomas Fire (left) and two others on December 5, 2017
Date(s)
  • December 4, 2017 (2017-12-04) –
  • January 12, 2018 (2018-01-12)
LocationOjai, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ventura,
in Ventura County, and
Santa Barbara County, California, U.S.
near State Route 150
Statistics
Burned area281,893 acres (114,078 ha; 440 sq mi; 1,141 km2)[1][2]
Land useResidential, business, oil wells, agriculture, wilderness
Impacts
Deaths1 firefighter, 1 civilian directly[3][4]
21 civilians indirectly (mud/debris flows in 2018)[5]
Non-fatal injuries2 firefighters[6][7][8]
Structures destroyed1,063 buildings[1][9]
Damage>$2.2 billion (2018 USD)[10][11][12][13]
Ignition
CauseDowned power lines[14][15]
Map
Map
Map
Map of the Thomas Fire and adjacent fires
Progression of the Thomas Fire, by December 25, 2017

The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately 281,893 acres (440 sq mi; 114,078 ha) before being fully contained on January 12, 2018, making it the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time. It was surpassed by the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex, in August 2018.[1][9][16][17][18][a] The fire is currently the eighth-largest wildfire in modern California history, as of 2024. The fire was officially declared out on June 1, 2018, after more than two months in which no hotspots were detected.[19] The Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1,063 structures, while damaging 280 others;[1][2][20][9] and the fire caused over $2.2 billion (2018 USD) in damages,[10][13][11] including $230 million in suppression costs,[11][12] becoming the seventh-most destructive wildfire in state history at the time.[21][22] As of August 2020, the Thomas Fire is California's tenth-most destructive wildfire.[21] Ventura's agriculture industry suffered at least $171 million in losses due to the Thomas Fire.[13]

By January 2, 2018, the Thomas Fire had cost over $204 million to fight,[11] and had forced over 104,607 residents to evacuate.[23][24][25][26] At its height, the Thomas Fire saw over 8,500 firefighters mobilized to fight it, which is the largest mobilization of firefighters for combating any wildfire in California history.[27][needs update]

The fire began on December 4, north of Santa Paula, near Steckel Park[28] and south of Thomas Aquinas College from which the fire was named. Fast-moving, it quickly reached the city of Ventura, where over five hundred residences were destroyed that night.[29] The fire destroyed almost as many residences in several rural communities amidst the rugged mountain terrain of Ventura County. The fire threatened the Ojai Valley, and on December 13, the fire completely surrounded the area, including Lake Casitas.[30][31] The fire began burning through the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains as it threatened several small communities along the Rincon Coast north of Ventura, expanded into the Los Padres National Forest, and reached Santa Barbara County. Firefighters concentrated on protecting the communities of Carpinteria and Montecito in the southern portion of the county as the fire burned in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains where access was difficult.[32]

The unusually strong and persistent Santa Ana winds were the largest factor in the spread of the fire.[33] Much of Southern California experienced "the strongest and longest duration Santa Ana wind event we have seen so far this season", according to the National Weather Service.[24] The region experienced an on-and-off Santa Ana wind event for a little over two weeks, which contributed to the Thomas Fire's persistent growths in size.[34] At its height, the wildfire was powerful enough to generate its own weather, qualifying it as a firestorm.[35] There were periods of time when the fire was advancing at a rate of an acre (0.4 ha) per second.[36] The winds also dried out the air, resulting in extremely low humidity.[33] The area, along with most of Southern California, experienced the driest March-through-December period on record.[37]

While November is the typical beginning of the rainy season in California, the first measurable rain for the area fell on January 8, 2018, more than a month into the fire. With the natural vegetation burnt, flash floods and mudflows damaged homes in Montecito when the rains arrived.[38] Evacuations were ordered or anticipated for neighborhoods that sit below areas recently burned by the Thomas Fire and other wildfires.[39] By January 10, at least 21 people had been killed by the sudden flooding and debris flows that followed the heavy rains, which also destroyed over 100 homes.[40][5]

  1. ^ a b c d "Thomas Fire". CAL FIRE. April 27, 2020. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Incident Summary: Thomas Fire". Ready Ventura County. December 26, 2017. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference firefighter killed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Orozco, Lance (December 8, 2017). "Authorities Release Details Of Fatality In Thomas Fire; 70 Year Old Woman Dies During Evacuations". KCLU-FM. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Dolan, Jack (January 21, 2018). "Search teams find 21st victim of Montecito mudslide". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Damage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference lagging winds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference earlier fires was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b c "Thomas Fire". InciWeb. March 22, 2018. Archived from the original on June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Annette Ding (April 10, 2018). "Charting the Financial Damage of the Thomas Fire". The Bottom Line. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Nicole Santa Cruz (January 2, 2018). "Trump approves disaster funds for Thomas fire victims". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "2018 National Large Incident Year-to-Date Report" (PDF). National Interagency Fire Center. August 30, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  13. ^ a b c Tyler Hersko (January 23, 2018). "Ventura County agriculture suffers over $170 million in damages from Thomas Fire". VC Star. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference power lines was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Thomas Fire Evening Update December 22" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  16. ^ Nicole Chavez (December 23, 2017). "Thomas Fire is now the largest blaze in California history". Cnn.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  17. ^ "California fire largest in state history". Bbc.com. December 23, 2017. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  18. ^ Michael Livingston; Javier Panzar (December 23, 2017). "Thomas fire becomes largest wildfire on record in California". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference officially out was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Deadly Thomas Fire in Ventura County explodes to 31,000 acres overnight, 150 structures burned". Fox5News. December 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Top 20 Most Destructive California Wildfires" (PDF). CAL FIRE. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 30, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  22. ^ Chelsea Edwards (December 11, 2017). "Thomas Fire grows to 230,000 acres as it continues destructive path into Santa Barbara County". ABC 7. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  23. ^ "Thomas Fire Quick Update: 12/19/2017, 6:00 p.m." (PDF). CalFire. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  24. ^ a b Vives, Ruben; Nelson, Laura J.; Parvini, Sarah; Hamilton, Matt; Kohli, Sonali (December 6, 2017). "Ventura County wildfire destroys more homes, reaches Pacific Ocean". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  25. ^ Melissa Etehad; Ruben Vives; Harriet Ryan; Alene Tchekmedyian (December 11, 2017). "At 234,200 acres, Thomas fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California history". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  26. ^ Joe Sutton; Susannah Cullinane (December 11, 2017). "California wildfires now larger than New York City and Boston combined". CNN. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  27. ^ Melissa Etehad; Brittny Mejia (December 18, 2017). "With more than 8,500 firefighters doing battle, this is California's largest wildfire response". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  28. ^ "Steckel Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  29. ^ Suter, Leanne (December 5, 2017). "Fast-moving fire threatens homes in Santa Paula, Ventura". ABC7 Los Angeles. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference explodes to 230,500 acres was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thomas Fire map, Dec 15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference winds picking up was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference out of control was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Joe Mozingo (December 31, 2017). "California's largest ever fire was a force that could not be stopped". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference creating its own weather was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference California fires was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Lin II, Rong-Gong (December 25, 2017). "Where's the rain? California could suffer an unusually dry winter from San Francisco to Los Angeles". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  38. ^ Queally, James; Serna, Joseph; Livingston, Michael (January 9, 2018). "At least 5 dead as heavy rains trigger flooding, mudflows and freeway closures across Southern California". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  39. ^ Tchekmedyian, Alene; Mejia, Brittny (January 8, 2018). "First major rainstorm in nearly a year hits Southern California, prompting evacuations in burn areas". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  40. ^ Joe Sterling (January 15, 2018). "3 remain missing in deadly California mudslides". Cable News Network. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.


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