Sesnon Fire

Last updated
Sesnon Fire
Date(s)
  • October 13, 2008 (2008-10-13)
  • October 18, 2008 (2008-10-18)
Location Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California
Statistics [1]
Burned area14,703 acres (60 km2)
Impacts
Structures destroyed
  • 15 residences
  • 63 outbuildings
Damage$12.6 million (2008 USD)
Ignition
CauseDowned powerlines

The Sesnon Fire (also known as the Porter Ranch Fire) was a wildfire that broke out near the oil fields of Oat Mountain, north of Porter Ranch, California, on Monday October 13, 2008. [2] The cause of this fire was a power line falling onto dry brush near a drainage area. [3] A state of emergency was declared by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 13 in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. The fire burned more than 22 square miles (57 km2) and cost US$7.9 million to fight. [4] This fire occurred concurrently two others, one in San Diego County and another at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley. [4] One person lost their life due to the low visibility on highways because of the smoke from the fire. [4]

Contents

Evacuations

Evacuations were ordered for Box Canyon, Woolsey Canyon, Bell Canyon, Lake Manor, Dayton Canyon, Browns Canyon and areas west of Valley Circle Blvd. [2] Evacuation centers were set up to help the people displaces by this fire as well as the Marek fire that affected areas close by. The main center was at San Fernando High School, where more than 750 evacuees registered. Other centers included El Camino High School, Shepherd of the Hills Church, and Canoga Park High School. [2]

Residents living in these areas were allowed to return to their homes on Friday. As another precaution, authorities closed all major streets that were near the fire. These included: Topanga Canyon Boulevard northbound from Chatsworth Avenue DeSoto Avenue northbound at Rinaldi Street, Corbin Avenue northbound at Porter Ranch Drive, Mason Avenue northbound at Celtic Street, Mason Avenue northbound at Corbin Street, Ronald Reagan118 Freeway between Reseda Boulevard and Stearns Avenue, (Simi Valley). [5]

Recovery

The Sesnon fire sent shock waves through the southern California area, raging out of control and burning thousands of acres each day. The governor of California as well as nbclosangeles.com reported that 62 buildings were destroyed in the fire, including 15 homes and nbclosangeles.com reported that 41 vehicles were destroyed. More importantly, there was one fatality due to fire on the 118 freeway, and 30 firefighters were injured during the course of trying to contain and extinguish the fire. Many people lost their homes filled with everything they own, their places of business, and their method of transportation. With $2.5 million in damages, it will be a long road to recovery. However, according to ktla.com, multiple recovery meetings have been scheduled for fire victims in order to help them cope with their losses and deal with recovery in the appropriate ways.

Cost of fighting fire

A few hours after the fire broke out it spread within minutes. Antonio Villaraigosa declared a local emergency for the entire City of Los Angeles. This meant that all funds need to fight the fire would be provided by the local government. A few days later California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a State of Emergency for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. [6] When the fire was finally extinguished the total cost of damage from the fire was $12.6 million. Local fire departments across Los Angeles County, Ventura County Fire, California Highway Patrol, National Park Service, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, Los Angeles Police Department, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas, Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Services, CDCR helped the firefighters in safely extinguishing the fire. [1]

Related Research Articles

Porter Ranch is a suburban-type neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles in the northwest portion of the San Fernando Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 118</span> Highway in California

State Route 118 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs west to east through Ventura and Los Angeles counties. It travels from State Route 126 at the eastern edge of Ventura immediately northwest of Saticoy, then through Saticoy, in Ventura County east to Interstate 210 near Lake View Terrace in Los Angeles. SR 118 crosses the Santa Susana Pass and the northern rim of the San Fernando Valley along its route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esperanza Fire</span> 2006 wildfire in Southern California

The Esperanza Fire was a large, wind-driven, arson-caused wildfire that started on October 26, 2006, in a river wash near Cabazon, California, west of Palm Springs, California. By October 29, 2006, it had burned over 41,173 acres (166.62 km2) and was 85% contained. On October 30, 2006, the fire was fully contained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 California wildfires</span> Wildfire season

The 2007 California wildfire season saw at least 9,093 separate wildfires that charred 1,520,362 acres (6,152.69 km2) of land. Thirty of those wildfires were part of the Fall 2007 California firestorm, which burned approximately 972,147 acres of land from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border. At the peak of the wildfire activity in October 2007, the raging wildfires were visible from space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tea Fire</span> 2008 wildfire in Southern California

The Tea Fire, also known as the Montecito Tea Fire, was a wildfire that began on November 13, 2008, destroying 210 homes in the cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara, California, in the United States of America. It was the first of several November 2008 wildfires that burned hundreds of homes from November 13–15, 2008. The Tea Fire ignited in the Cold Springs section of Montecito at approximately 17:50 PST on November 13, 2008. The fire started at a Mar Y Cel historic structure called the "Tea House" above Mountain Drive, giving the fire its name. Spreading rapidly, it was fanned by offshore winds, known as Sundowner winds, that blow down the Santa Ynez Mountains, gusting up to 85 mph (137 km/h). These winds caused the fire to spread into the city of Santa Barbara. The fire was 40% contained on the 15th, 75% on the 16th, and by November 17, 2008, it was 95% contained after burning 1,940 acres, and on November 18, it was 100% contained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayre Fire</span> 2008 wildfire in Southern California

The Sayre Fire, also known as the Sylmar Fire, was a November 2008 wildfire that resulted in the loss of 489 residences in Los Angeles, California, United States, the "worst loss of homes due to fire" in the city's history. The fire was first reported at 10:29 p.m. PDT on November 14, 2008, in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles. As of November 20, 2008, the fire was 100% contained, had burned 11,262 acres (46 km2) and destroyed more than 600 structures. The number of homes lost in the Sayre fire exceeded the prior record set in 1961 by the Bel Air Fire which claimed 484 homes. There were no fatalities, just minor injuries to five firefighters and one civilian.

Browns Canyon Wash, also known as Browns Canyon Creek, is a 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km) tributary of the Los Angeles River in the Santa Susana Mountains of Los Angeles County and across the western San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California.

The 1978 Agoura-Malibu firestorm was a firestorm fueled by at least eight significant wildfires in the Los Angeles area on October 23, 1978. At around noon that day, an arsonist started a fire that eventually burned 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) from Cornell to Broad Beach in Malibu. The first fire alarm in Agoura was reported at 12:11 pm, and by 2:30 pm, the fire had reached the Pacific Ocean 13 miles (21 km) south in Malibu. It had been declared a Level 2 fire at 1:57 pm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 2007 California wildfires</span> Series of wildfires in California

The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm, were a series of about thirty wildfires that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed and approximately 972,147 acres of land was burned from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border, surpassing the October 2003 California wildfires in scope, which were estimated to have burned 800,000 acres (3,200 km2). The wildfires killed a total of 14 people, with nine of them dying directly from the fires; 160 others were injured, including at least 124 firefighters. At their height, the raging fires were visible from space. These fires included the vast majority of the largest and deadliest wildfires of the 2007 California wildfire season. The only wildfire in 2007 that surpassed any of the individual October 2007 fires in size was the Zaca Fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simi Fire</span> 2003 wildfire in Southern California

The Simi Fire was a devastating 2003 wildfire that burned 108,204 acres (438 km2) of land in the Simi Hills and southeastern Simi Valley in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, in the U.S. state of California. The Simi Fire was one of multiple large, fast-moving, and destructive wildfires in Southern California in October 2003, in a fire siege that included the Cedar, Old, and Grand Prix fires. The Simi Fire resulted in no fatalities but did cause 21 injuries. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliso Canyon Oil Field</span> Oil field in Los Angeles County, California

The Aliso Canyon Oil Field is an oil field and natural gas storage facility in the Santa Susana Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, north of the Porter Ranch neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. Discovered in 1938 and quickly developed afterward, the field peaked as an oil producer in the 1950s, but has remained active since its discovery. One of its depleted oil and gas producing formations, the Sesnon-Frew zone, was converted into a gas storage reservoir in 1973 by the Southern California Gas Company, the gas utility servicing the southern half of California. This reservoir is the second-largest natural gas storage site in the western United States, with a capacity of over 86 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Currently it is one of four gas storage facilities owned by Southern California Gas, the others being the La Goleta Gas Field west of Santa Barbara, Honor Rancho near Newhall, and Playa del Rey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherpa Fire</span> 2016 wildfire in Southern California

The Sherpa Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains along the Gaviota Coast in the southwestern part of Santa Barbara County, California in June 2016. In a matter of hours the fire spread to over 1,400 acres (570 ha) as the fire was propelled by downslope sundowner winds. This offshore northerly wind contrasts with the more typical onshore flow and sent the fire down the canyons towards the ocean with gusts of over 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). The wildfire resulted in evacuations at two state beach campgrounds and some residences together with intermittent interruption of traffic on a state transportation route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand Fire (2016)</span> 2016 wildfire in Southern California

The Sand Fire was a wildfire in 2016 that burned in the Angeles National Forest, east of the Santa Clarita Valley in Los Angeles County, California. The fire, named for the area's Sand Canyon, was fueled by heavy chaparral and brush.

The La Tuna Fire was a wildfire that started on September 1, 2017, and burned 7,194 acres (2,911 ha) through the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles, California. It led to the destruction of 5 homes and the evacuations of over 300 homes. It was the largest wildfire in the city of Los Angeles in 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creek Fire (2017)</span> 2017 wildfire in Southern California

The Creek Fire was a large wildfire that burned in Kagel Canyon and the Angeles National Forest north of Sylmar, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The Creek Fire burned 15,619 acres (63 km2) and destroyed 123 structures, including 60 homes, before being contained on January 9, 2018, following heavy rainfall from a winter storm. The fire threatened the communities of Santa Clarita, Glendale, Olive View, Lake View Terrace, Sunland-Tujunga, Shadow Hills, Sylmar, Pacoima, Lopez Canyon, and Kagel Canyon, as well as the Olive View–UCLA Medical Center. During the wildfire, 115,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 2017 Southern California wildfires</span> 2017 wildfires in Southern California

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), and caused traffic disruptions, school closures, hazardous air conditions, and power outages; over 230,000 people were forced to evacuate. 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, until it was surpassed by the Ranch Fire in the Mendocino Complex, in the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolsey Fire</span> 2018 wildfire in Southern California

The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties of the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018, and burned 96,949 acres of land. The fire destroyed 1,643 structures, killed three people, and prompted the evacuation of more than 295,000 people. It was one of several fires in California that ignited on the same day, along with the nearby Hill Fire and the destructive Camp Fire in Northern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saddleridge Fire</span> 2019 wildfire in Southern California

The Saddleridge Fire was a wildfire burning near the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It broke out roughly around 9:02 pm on Thursday October 10, 2019. It is still undetermined as to how it had started, but believed that the blaze had started beneath a high voltage transmission tower. Reporters and first responders began to assess the fire, the main location at the time of ignition was at the entrance of Interstate 210 and Yarnell Street. Residents were being evacuated, shop owners standing by in hopes their shops were still up, and many of the community helping with evacuating all animals from surrounding farms and ranches. The fire was fully extinguished on Thursday October 31, 2019, twenty days after first igniting. The fire burned 8,799 acres (3,561 ha) and resulted in 8 injuries and 1 fatality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tick Fire</span> 2019 wildfire in Southern California

The Tick Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles County, California. The fire broke out on October 24, 2019, and burned several thousand acres. The fire forced the mass evacuation of 40,000 people from the Santa Clarita Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soledad Fire</span> 2020 wildfire in Southern California

The Soledad Fire was a wildfire that burned 1,525 acres (617 ha) south of Agua Dulce and northeast of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County, California in the United States during the 2020 California wildfire season. The fire started on July 5, 2020, and caused the complete closure of State Route 14 in both directions throughout the day as the fire grew to 1,498 acres. The fire also at a point threatened over 4,795 structures, although only 9 homes were formally threatened by the direct fireline. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sesnon Fire". CAL FIRE . Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Porter Ranch–Sesnon Fire". KNX (AM). CBS News . Retrieved 2008-12-20.[ dead link ]
  3. Kovacik, Robert (17 July 2009). "Electrical Line, Dry Brush Caused Sesnon Fire, Inspector Says". NBC Los Angeles . Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Overnight winds expected on LA fire lines". UPI. October 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  5. "California Still Burning, Avoid These Streets". NBC Los Angeles. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. Baldonado, Kim (17 July 2009). "Firefighters to Stage Overnight Stand Against Sesnon Fire". NBC Los Angeles . Retrieved 24 August 2015.