October 2007 California wildfires
Name County Acres Km Start Date Contained Date Notes
Ranch Los Angeles 58,401 236.3 October 20 , 2007 October 30 , 2007 10 structures destroyed
Canyon Los Angeles 4,521 18.3 October 21 , 2007 October 27 , 2007 8 structures destroyed
Sedgewick Fire Santa Barbara 710 2.9 October 21 , 2007 October 30 , 2007
Harris San Diego 90,440 366.0 October 21 , 2007 November 5 , 2007 472 structures destroyed , 1 civilian fatality
October Fire Los Angeles 35 0.1 October 21 , 2007 October 30 , 2007
Nightsky Fire Ventura 20 0.1 October 21 , 2007 November 1 , 2007
Witch San Diego 197,990 801.2 October 21 , 2007 November 6 , 2007 1,650 structures destroyed , 2 civilian fatalities
McCoy Fire San Diego 400 1.6 October 21 , 2007 October 26 , 2007 1 structure destroyed
Buckweed Los Angeles 38,356 155.2 October 21 , 2007 November 1 , 2007 63 structures destroyed
Roca Fire Riverside 270 1.1 October 21 , 2007 November 1 , 2007
Santiago Orange 28,400 114.9 October 21 , 2007 November 9 , 2007 24 structures destroyed
Coronado Hills Fire San Diego 250 1.0 October 22 , 2007 October 30 , 2007
Little Mountain Fire San Bernardino 650 2.6 October 22 , 2007 October 24 , 2007
Walker Fire San Bernardino 160 0.6 October 22 , 2007 October 30 , 2007
Cajon Fire San Bernardino 250 1.0 October 22 , 2007 October 30 , 2007
Magic Los Angeles 2,824 11.4 October 22 , 2007 October 27 , 2007
Slide San Bernardino 12,759 51.6 October 22 , 2007 October 31 , 2007 272 structures destroyed
Rice San Diego 9,472 38.3 October 22 , 2007 November 1 , 2007 248 structures destroyed
Grass Valley San Bernardino 1,247 5.0 October 22 , 2007 October 29 , 2007 178 structures destroyed
Rosa Fire Riverside 411 1.7 October 22 , 2007 October 31 , 2007
Fires
This is a list of the named fires that ignited as part of the October 2007 California firestorm , beginning in late October 2007 . Most of these wildfires were managed by Cal Fire at some point in time . [ 1 ]
The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm, were a series of about thirty wildfires (17 of which became major wildfires) that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed and approximately 972,147 acres (about 3,934 km, or 1,520 mi) 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 . 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. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven California counties where fires were burning. President George W. Bush concurred, and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts. Over 6,000 firefighters worked to fight the blazes; they were aided by units of the United States Armed Forces, United States National Guard, almost 3,000 prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes, and 60 firefighters from the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Tecate. The fires forced approximately 1,000,000 people to evacuate from their homes, becoming the largest evacuation in California's history. Major contributing factors to the extreme fire conditions were drought in Southern California, hot weather, and unusually strong Santa Ana winds, with gusts reaching 85 mph (140 km/h). California's fire season, which traditionally runs from June to October, has become a year-round threat, due to a mixture of perennial drought and the increasing number of homes built in canyons and on hillsides, surrounded by brush and forest.