A third of National Park island home to rare wildlife has burned in spate of Southern California wildfires
A large wildfire has burned nearly a third of Santa Rosa Island in California’s Channel Islands National Park — an area home to dozens of rare plants and animals
(CNN) — A large wildfire has burned a third of Santa Rosa Island in California’s Channel Islands National Park — an area home to dozens of rare plants and animals, including some found nowhere else in the world.
Officials believe the blaze, which ignited Friday and grew to 17,554 acres as of Thursday morning, may be the largest wildfire ever documented on Santa Rosa Island, National Park Service spokesperson Ana Cholo told CNN. It is also the largest fire in California this year, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Fires of this size and magnitude are not considered common on Santa Rosa Island,” Cholo said. “The Channel Islands are not considered fire-adapted ecosystems in the same way many mainland Southern California ecosystems are.”
The blaze was 44% contained on Thursday morning.
Based on initial assessments, the island’s rare Torrey pine trees “still exist and remain largely intact,” according to the National Interagency Fire Center. However, high-intensity fire burned “small pockets” of the area.
This critically endangered native pine species currently grows naturally only on Santa Rosa Island and a small preserve near San Diego, according to the National Park Service.
The Channel Islands have been described as akin to the Galápagos in South America, with their isolation allowing for the evolution of unique species and subspecies. Santa Rosa Island alone is home to around 46 endemic or unique plants and animals, according to the park service. It also hosts some of the archipelago’s most sensitive organisms and habitats, Cholo said.
Several are threatened by the wildfire, which has at times exhibited “extreme” behavior as it’s moved north from the southeastern shore of the island.
The Santa Rosa Island fox, a unique subspecies, is a particularly notable example, she said. Island foxes inhabit six of the eight Channel Islands, and subspecies have evolved on each island. The animals, which are about the size of a house cat, are the smallest canid species in the world and found nowhere else.
The wildfire has the potential to be particularly impactful as it is currently the foxes’ breeding season, Cholo said. It is also breeding season for bald eagles and federally threatened western snowy plovers, whose nesting grounds are threatened by the blaze. Island spotted skunk habitat is also at risk, according to Cholo.
Santa Rosa is also home to unique and rare plants. These include six endangered plant species and subspecies, three of which only exist on the island, according to Cholo.
“Many of these species occur in small, fragile, fire‑sensitive habitats,” she said.
The blaze has also destroyed two historic structures on the island. A Santa Barbara County Fire Department helicopter crew flew 11 National Park employees off the island on Sunday and the island is closed to visitors.
The National Park Service is handling the investigation into the cause of the fire. That investigation is ongoing, Cholo said. It is described as “human-caused” on the National Interagency Fire Center incident page.
The US Coast Guard responded to the fire Friday and rescued a 67-year-old sailor whose boat crashed into rocks there, according to posts on social media. Photos provided to CNN by the Coast Guard show the man standing near the letters “SOS” carved into charred ground.
Thousands under evacuation alerts from Southern California fires
On the mainland, multiple wildfires have prompted evacuations in Southern California.
In Riverside County, evacuations have been ordered for the Bain Fire, which reached 1,456 acres and was 39% contained as of Thursday morning. On Wednesday, more than 700 people were under evacuation orders, while an additional 18,800 were under evacuation warnings.
Four people were injured in the blaze and taken to the hospital, CalFire spokesperson Maggie Cline De La Rosa told CNN. Three of the injuries were minor and one was a “traumatic injury.” The department did not have additional information on that injury.
Elsewhere in the county, two firefighters and one civilian were injured in the Verona Fire, which has burned 600 acres and is 38% contained. The firefighters were taken to the hospital, but the civilian refused transport, De La Rosa said. On Wednesday, 1,100 people were under evacuation orders, with another 1,407 under evacuation warning. The orders were lifted by Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire, but several warnings remain in place.
De La Rosa said she cannot confirm how many structures have been damaged or destroyed in both fires.
In Ventura County, nearly 44,000 people were under evacuation orders due to the Sandy Fire as of Tuesday evening. The blaze spread rapidly earlier in the week, driven by gusty winds, and destroyed one home. It is 30% contained as of Thursday morning and has burned over 2,100 acres.
About 900 firefighters were battling the fire from the air and ground on Wednesday, according to a Ventura County Fire Department update.
Farther south, in eastern San Diego County, the Tusil Fire spread across both sides of Interstate 8. The blaze has consumed more than 800 acres and is 73% contained. “Favorable weather conditions and moderated fire behavior supported suppression efforts” on Wednesday, according to a Cal Fire update.
The-CNN-Wire
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