Day Fire | |
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Date(s) |
|
Location | Topatopa Mountains, Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County, California |
Statistics [1] [2] | |
Burned area | 162,702 acres (658 km2) |
Impacts | |
Damage | $70.3 million (2006 USD) |
Ignition | |
Cause | Arson |
Perpetrator(s) | Steven Emory Butcher |
The Day Fire was a devastating wildfire that burned 162,702 acres (658 km2) of land in the Topatopa Mountains, within the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, southern California.
The fire was the largest of the 2006 California wildfire season. The fire started on Labor Day September 4, 2006, and by October 1, had cost $70.3 million; at one point, the Day Fire had 4,600 active firefighters combating it. [3]
The Day Fire burned approximately 162,702 acres (658.43 km2) of both Los Padres National Forest (97.4%) and privately owned lands. [2] The fire started on the Ojai Ranger District, in the congressionally designated Sespe Wilderness. The Sespe Wilderness is under the federal jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service. In addition to the land burned in the wilderness area, 1,943 acres (8 km2) of private land was burned in Lockwood Valley and the Mutau Flat area. A total of eleven structures were reported destroyed, including one residence and ten outbuildings.[ citation needed ]
The Day Fire was determined to be human caused Specifically, a debris burn consisting of clothing, ammunition, and other items were illegally ignited during fire restrictions.[ citation needed ] Ignited material coming out of the debris burn came in contact with surrounding dry grasses, causing a wildland fire to occur. On September 7, 2006, Steven Butcher walked out of the Day Fire with burns to his face. Mr. Butcher was the one who notified the authorities there was a fire burning in the Los Padres National Forest.
In 2009, Butcher was found guilty of starting the fire. "I hid up there for days afterward watching the animals running scared around me." [1] Before sentencing, District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank said that Butcher "clearly loved nature."
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The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
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 Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,847 feet (2,697 m).
The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California.
Sespe Creek is a stream, some 61 miles (98 km) long, in Ventura County, southern California, in the Western United States. The creek starts at Potrero Seco in the eastern Sierra Madre Mountains, and is formed by more than thirty tributary streams of the Sierra Madre and Topatopa Mountains, before it empties into the Santa Clara River in Fillmore.
The Chumash Wilderness is a 38,150 acres (15,440 ha) wilderness area within the southern Los Padres National Forest. It is located in the Transverse Ranges, in northern Ventura County and southwestern Kern County in California.
The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a 53,000-acre (210 km2) wildlife refuge in the Topatopa Mountains, in northeastern Ventura County, California. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern Los Padres National Forest.
The Dick Smith Wilderness is a wilderness area in the mountains of eastern Santa Barbara County, California, United States, with a portion in Ventura County. It is completely contained within the Los Padres National Forest, and is northeast of the city of Santa Barbara and north of the city of Ojai. It is most easily accessible from two trailheads off State Route 33, which runs north from Ojai. It is adjacent to the large San Rafael Wilderness on the west and the Matilija Wilderness on the south. Across Highway 33 to the east, and also in the Los Padres National Forest, is the large Sespe Wilderness.
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Cobblestone Mountain is a peak in the Topatopa Mountains, in Ventura County, about 14 mi (23 km) north of Piru, California. At 6,738 feet (2,054 m), it is the highest peak of the Topatopa Mountains. Second highest is Hines Peak. Snow frequently falls on the mountain during winter.
The Indians Fire was a wildfire in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest in the Santa Lucia Range which that started on June 8, 2008 and burned uncontained until July 10 scorching 81,378 acres (329.33 km2) of land. This fire burned predominantly within the Los Padres National Forest, Monterey Ranger District, inside the Ventana Wilderness. Other affected properties include portions of Fort Hunter Liggett military base and private property. The suppression cost exceeded $40.7 million, not including resource damages and rehabilitation costs.
The La Brea Fire was a fast-moving 2009 wildfire which occurred in Southern California in the United States. The fire began near La Brea Creek in Santa Barbara County, in the Los Padres National Forest. The fire started burning on August 8, and just 5 days later on August 13 had grown by 10,000 acres, or 40 km2. When the wildfire was finally contained on August 22, it had burned 89,489 acres of land. The huge Zaca Fire burned in the same region as the La Brea Fire, and occurred just two years prior in 2007.
The Sespe Wilderness is a 219,700-acre (88,900 ha) wilderness area in the eastern Topatopa Mountains and southern Sierra Pelona Mountains, within the Los Padres National Forest (LPNF), in Ventura County, Southern California. The wilderness area is primarily located within the Ojai and Mt. Pinos ranger districts of the LPNF.
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The Matilija Wilderness is a 29,207-acre (11,820 ha) wilderness area in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, Southern California. It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, being situated within the Ojai Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest. It is located adjacent to the Dick Smith Wilderness to the northwest and the Sespe Wilderness to the northeast, although it is much smaller than either one. The Matilija Wilderness was established in 1992 in part to protect California condor habitat.
The Matilija Fire was a major wildfire that burned nearly 220,000 acres (89,000 ha) in the Santa Barbara National Forest of Southern California, during the autumn of 1932. The fire is named for Matilija Creek, near the location from which it originated.
The Wolf Fire was a large wildfire in Southern California's Ventura County, north of the city of Ojai, in June of 2002. The fire was ignited on June 1 by the careless use of firearms for target shooting in dry grass and burned 21,645 acres, destroying six structures before it was completely contained on June 14. The cost of containing the fire came to $15 million. No fatalities or serious injuries occurred, but the fire impacted large parts of the Sespe Wilderness and the Los Padres National Forest, causing road and campground closures while threatening Native American cultural sites and wildlife habitat.