Wildfire burns about 250 acres on Santa Cruz Island

On Thursday 95 firefighters from California and Arizona were assigned to the fire.

Santa Cruz Fire

Above: Santa Cruz Fire, March 27, 2018. NPS photo.

A wildfire that started Tuesday burned about 250 acres on Santa Cruz Island 20 miles off the coast southwest of Oxnard. The preliminary cause is a burn pile on Nature Conservancy land that escaped.

By Thursday firefighters slowed the spread assisted by lighter winds and a marine layer that brought higher humidities. Personnel, totaling 95, arrived from Santa Barbara County and the Los Padres, Sequoia, Sierra, and Tonto National Forests.

One small non-historic building burned in the fire.

Santa Cruz Island Fire
Santa Cruz Island Fire, March 28, 2018.

National Park Service spokesperson, Yvonne Menard, said air tankers, a mix of U.S. Forest Service contract aircraft and CAL FIRE S-2T’s, worked the fire — four on Tuesday and three on Wednesday along with at least one helicopter . The S-2T’s were dispatched from Paso Robles and the Forest Service aircraft came from Southern Arizona. They reloaded at Hemet Ryan, which is 155 miles southwest of the fire.

Santa Cruz Island, at 96 square miles, is the largest in the chain of eight California Channel Islands. The Nature Conservancy owns 76 percent of Santa Cruz Island and the National Park Service owns 24 percent. Together, they cooperatively manage the island as one ecological unit.

map Santa Cruz Island Fire
Map showing the location of the Santa Cruz Fire. Wildfire Today & Google Earth.
Santa Cruz Island Fire
Santa Cruz Island Fire, March 29, 2018. NPS Photo.
Santa Cruz Fire
Santa Cruz Island Fire, March 28, 2018. NPS photo.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

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