Silverado Fire | |
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Date(s) |
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Location | Santiago Canyon and Silverado Canyon roads, east of Irvine, in southern Orange County, California |
Coordinates | 33°44′17″N117°43′49″W / 33.737957°N 117.730187°W |
Statistics | |
Burned area | 13,390 acres (5,419 ha) |
Impacts | |
Non-fatal injuries | 2 |
Ignition | |
Cause | Under Investigation |
Map | |
The Silverado Fire [1] was a wildfire that burned in October and November 2020 in southern Orange County, California northeast of the city of Irvine. [2] The fire started on October 26 around 6:47 AM near Orange County Route S-18 (Santiago Canyon Road) and Silverado Canyon Road, fueled by strong Santa Ana winds gusting up to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) and low humidity. [3] The fire initially moved south from Loma Ridge toward the Orchard Hills, Northwood and Portola Springs communities of Irvine before moving southeast through Limestone Canyon and toward the communities of Foothill Ranch and Lake Forest. [4] [5] The fire burned in a path similar to that taken by the 2007 Santiago Fire, mostly through terrain that had not seen significant burning in the 13 years since that fire. [6] Authorities announced 100% containment on November 7, 2020.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Southern California Edison officials stated in a letter [7] to the California Public Utilities Commission that they suspect a "lashing wire" from one of T-Mobile's telecommunication lines may have contacted one of its electric lines. [8] [9]
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued by the Orange County Fire Authority and CalFire for approximately 90,000 residents and schools in the area. [10] [11] The fire also caused California State Route 241 to temporarily shut down. [12] [3] Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy stated, "The winds were extraordinary even by Santa Ana standards. Fire spread is exceeding more than anything I've seen in my 44 years." [13]
Although there were no civilian casualties, two Orange County firefighters, 26 year old Dylan Van Iwaarden and 31 year old Phi Le, were severely burned battling the wildfire, receiving second and third degree burns over half their bodies and hospitalized in critical condition. [14] [13] [15] Van Iwaarden had burns on 65% of his body and Le had burns on 50% of his body. [16] The firefighters were reportedly trapped by flames in what may have been a failed backburning attempt. Six other firefighters in the same crew reported singes to their hair and eyebrows. [17] A blood drive was held in Santa Ana to help the firefighters, and over $215,000 was raised in two days via online crowdsourcing to aid with medical expenses. [18] [16]
On November 7, firefighters reached 100% containment of the fire. [12] [13]
On February 17, 2021, Van Iwaarden was released from the Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana after spending 114 days there, undergoing a medically induced coma and 17 surgeries. [15]
In February 2024, state regulators fined Southern California Edison $2.4 Million for violations involving equipment owned by them and shared with T-Mobile. [19]
The fire consumed 13,390 acres, destroying one structure and two minor structures, and damaging five others. [20] The burn scar of the fire aided in the stoppage of the Bond Fire, another wildfire that took place in the area only a month later. [21]
The fire partially destroyed a 6.1-acre area along Agua Chinon Creek and around Limestone Canyon Regional Park that had recently been the subject of a five-year project to restore the nature to its native setting. The seed farm facility used for the project was also burned during the wildfire. Some trees and vegetation were burned while others weren't in what officials described as a "checkerboard pattern" of damage. [22]
The burn scars of the Silverado and Bond fires coupled with a winter rain storm caused a series of mudflows on the evening of January 28, 2021. Mudflows occurred near the Bond Fire scar causing road blockages; however, structural damages were not reported in the Silverado Fire burn scar area. [23]
Silverado is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Silverado Canyon, which is located in the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. Portions of the town sit on a former Mexican land grant Rancho Lomas de Santiago. Silverado is located at the boundaries of Cleveland National Forest. The site is a California Historical Landmark, and is located near the village site of Puhú.
The Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 was a massive wildfire in California, which burned large parts of Orange County, Riverside County, and San Diego County during the last week of September 1889. The fire reportedly started in Fremont Canyon, a canyon close to what today is Irvine Lake. Until 2018, it was possibly the single largest wildfire in the recorded history of California, with at least 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) of land burned. In mid-August 2018, the Ranch Fire in the Mendocino Complex Fire surpassed the Santiago Canyon Fire's assumed acreage.
Anaheim Hills is a planned community encompassing the eastern portions of the city of Anaheim, in Orange County, California.
At least 9,093 separate wildfires charred 1,520,362 acres (6,152.69 km2) of land in the US state of California in 2007. 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.
The Santiago Fire was a wildfire located near Santiago Canyon in Orange County, California, United States, and one of thirty California wildfires of October 2007. The fire was intentionally started.
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.
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.
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 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 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. The fire is currently the eighth-largest wildfire in modern California history, as of 2025. The fire was officially declared out on June 1, 2018, after more than two months in which no hotspots were detected. The Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1,063 structures, while damaging 280 others; and the fire caused over $2.2 billion in damages, including $230 million in suppression costs, becoming the seventh-most destructive wildfire in state history at the time. As of August 2020, the Thomas Fire is California's tenth-most destructive wildfire. Ventura's agriculture industry suffered at least $171 million in losses due to the Thomas Fire.
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.
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.
The Holy Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange and Riverside Counties, California. The wildfire started on August 6, 2018, at around 1:15 PM PDT, in the vicinity of Trabuco Canyon. A suspected arsonist was booked into the Orange County jail in Santa Ana, California but found not guilty in 2023. The blaze burned 23,136 acres (94 km2) and destroyed 18 buildings, before it was fully contained on September 13, 2018. While the fire was actively spreading in early and mid-August, residents of the nearby cities of Corona, Temescal Valley, and Lake Elsinore were placed under evacuation orders.
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that started in Los Angeles County and spread north to neighboring Ventura County, both located in the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018 and was not fully contained until November 21, 2018. The fire burned 96,949 acres of land, 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.
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.
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The Bond Fire was a wildfire that burned 6,686 acres (2,706 ha) in the Santiago Canyon area of Orange County, California in December 2020. The fire caused evacuations of 25,000 residents and injured 2 firefighters. The fire was very close to the burn scar of the Silverado Fire, which took place in October 2020.
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